Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour, April 26–27
For artist and homeowner Kimber Fiebiger, of Joan of Art gallery, her home is as much a work of art as the sculptures inside it.
Bridgeland homes on the 2008 Minneapolis-St. Paul Home Tour:
Prospect Park
Walter Jacobs and Valerie Minor
60 Arthur Ave. SE
Seward
Kimber Feibiger, Joan of Art Gallery
3020 E. Franklin Ave.
Cooper
Dana and Barbara Tickner
3204 43rd Ave. S.
Greater Longfellow (Howe)
Leif and Karen Nestingen
3641 47th Ave. S.
Leif and Karen Nestingen are hospitable folks, occasionally having friends over for dinner or to stop by. But come the end of the month, the two are taking entertaining to a whole new level as they prepare to host anywhere from 500 to 700 guests — most of whom they won’t even know.
The Nestingens represent just one pair of 50 homeowners in the Twin Cities area participating in the 2008 Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour April 26–27.
The couple knows a thing or two about houses; Leif has a contracting business, RRR Construction, and Karen is a Realtor. They moved into their Longfellow home just over a year ago and have been remodeling their new space ever since.
Karen said she and her husband always preferred older houses and took on the task of renovating a 1920s-era abode after their last child left home.
“It’s like we built an old house,” she said, explaining that the remodel, a GreenStar pilot project, was carefully designed to be environmentally sound while still preserving many of the older characteristics of the home.
The eco-friendly remodel included recycling an old garage (it was literally sawed off its foundation and hauled away to be used again), materials from The ReUse Center, remnant granite countertops, a deck built from material containing recycled elements, recycled carpeting and energy-efficient insulation. While the work might be viewed as a little eccentric by some, admitted Leif, from a contractor’s perspective, it’s the future of home building and remodeling.
Leif believes green building will be the norm in the next couple of years.
Home is where the art is
The Nestingens aren’t the only ones in Bridgeland with a home on the tour. Kimber Fiebiger, artist and owner of Joan of Art Gallery, 3020 E. Franklin Ave., is one of four artists featuring their homes this year.
Easy to spot along East Franklin Avenue due to its colorful façade and series of quirky Humpty Dumpty sculptures (Fiebiger’s trademark), the building once housed an inventor’s workshop and was later office space, according to Feibiger.
After buying the space in 2001, Fiebiger said what was formerly an attic in the old building was framed into a living space.
“I’ve been working on it hard the last three years,” she said, pointing out elaborate black and white bathroom tile work that took her close to three months to complete (a work of art in and of itself) along with wood floors. Even the majority of Fiebiger’s furniture is the product of her own doing, and her dining room table and even the dishes are her own designs.
Fiebiger said this is the first time she’s participated in such a tour, although her art has been featured in living spaces on several other tours in the past.
“For me, I never feel like I’m ready,” she said, about why she’s never shown her home on tour. “I’m always working on something else.” For now, that includes plans for an outdoor deck and a sculpture studio, so she doesn’t have to do her sculpture work from the kitchen table.
Despite the profound changes she’s made to the space, Fiebiger said it hasn’t left a substantial impact on her pocketbook.
“I really haven’t invested a lot financially,” she said, calling the process of building and designing her home a “labor of love.”
Tour inspires home improvement — and next year’s hosts
It’s this reasonably priced approach to home remodeling that distinguishes the Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour from other home tours in the area, according to tour coordinator Margo Ashmore.
Ashmore, who has been organizing the tour (now in its 20th year) since 2005, said that, besides providing tour-goers with interesting ideas for their own homes and a chance to speak to some of the builders and homeowners responsible for the designs, the tour features what’s great about city living and why people are excited to stay in their homes.
She said the tour can be contagious; past tour-goers often go on to feature their own homes a year or even several years later.
Walt Jacobs and Valerie Minor attended last year’s tour and are now featuring their Prospect Park home, specifically highlighting the transformation of an unfinished attic into a master bedroom and bath in 2006.
“It was great,” Jacobs said about the 2007 tour, adding that it was something he and his wife had been meaning to attend for several years. They enjoyed it so much, Jacobs said, that they wanted to “return the favor” by participating in 2008.
Even the homeowners benefit from the showing. Karen said it will give her a sense of satisfaction to display her house after a year of hard work, adding that having a tour to prepare for gave her added incentive to get things done.
The kitchen in her last house, she said, didn’t have a backsplash because she was too indecisive about what she wanted. “It is helping, to have that deadline,” Karen said, adamant that come April 26, there will be a backsplash.
Prospect Park resident and architect Bob Roscoe will lead walking tours of the western paer of the neighborhood on both Saturday and Sunday. The hour-long walking tours will begin at 1 p.m. at 60 Arthur Ave SE and end in the same place.
For more information about the Home Tour, visit
www.msphometour.com.
last revised: April 21, 2008