Renovation Updates Century-old Farm Home

— By Garnet Holmstadt

Armed with a stack of old photographs and a desire to preserve his family's homestead, John Lavander worked with a team of architects and builders to bring his family's old farmhouse into the 21st century. The renovation turned a quaint Midwestern farm home into one that still reflects the classic farmhouse form but is better suited to the needs of his family today and future generations of Lavanders.

"I really wanted the house to be comfortable and to preserve my family's farm heritage," John says of the renovation. "I also wanted my family to experience farm life similar to what I enjoyed growing up." The farm in central Minnesota has been in the Lavander family for over 130 years.

The renovation kept the spirit of the original farmhouse but also added 1,100 feet to the original 2,200 square feet of the home. The addition includes a new kitchen on the first floor and a master suite with private bath, sitting area and sleeping porch on the second floor. The house has grown from the traditional farmhouse to include three large bedrooms plus the master suite, four bathrooms, an office, a spacious guest room with full bath on the first floor, and a mudroom/utility room in addition to the living room and new kitchen.

Important features re-introduced to the house, based on the original photos, were new porches and two bay windows. The porches welcome guests to both front and back entrances. The spacious back porch with its open and screened areas offers the Lavanders a complete view of the farm from comfortable rockers. Both porches contain design elements that appeared in the turn of the century farmhouse photos, such as corbels on the porch columns.

The steep roof pitch from the original house was incorporated into the renovation. Lavander and his team literally cut off the roof of the old farmhouse to add five and one-half feet to the height of the home. This eliminated the original roofline which cut into the second floor bedrooms. This change resulted in more usable space on the second floor and gives the home nine foot ceilings on both floors.

"The starting point for the entire project was that we wanted a traditional large farmhouse kitchen, which I think is the heart and soul of a farm. I remember all of the stories and laughter while sitting around the kitchen table," John said. Adjacent to the kitchen is a new mudroom and utility room, and new pantries were built into the kitchen walls for storage. A key feature of the kitchen design was it had to accommodate the large table and numerous chairs his parents and grandparents used.

As the makeover took shape, so did plans for reusing the many antiques and other treasures John and his family found on the farm. These included the original Majestic cookstove used by his grandmother, an antique china cabinet, old family photographs of the family's Swedish immigrant ancestors, toys, and other memorabilia.

Oak woodwork appears throughout the house with hardwood floors, cabinets, large baseboards, crown moldings and casings around the doors and windows. The bottom plinth block and the rosettes in the upper corners of the frames carry design details forward from the original house. It also inspired the oak wainscoat in the kitchen and main floor bathroom, the columns and woodwork used to divide the kitchen and living room, and the oak stair banisters and spindles leading to the second floor. Some architectural details were not in the original house but were incorporated since they are typical of a turn of the century farmhouse.

"We enjoy the house, especially the peace and quiet of living in the country," said John. "I'm glad we could keep the farm in use today. It's a way we can continue our family's farm legacy."