Dated Design & Decor
Evylin was a holdover from an older, grander age, defying time in her Minneapolis Tudor home. Sometime back when World War Two was news and not history, she developed a taste for flamboyant design. Evylin covered her walls and ceilings with wallpaper: flamingo-pink palm fronds, green and gold bamboo, a Chinoiserie-style mural in black and turquoise, and painted woodwork to match. During years that followed, in the incredible gulf of time that separated World War Two from the advent of Facebook, she sat in her home and changed not an inch of the decor.
Resurrecting The Home
When Evylin Seeley Johnson died at 103, her vintage collection of hats went like crazy at the estate sale. However, her opulently wallpapered home, ravaged by time and decay, remained a curious eyesore. Located in an east Calhoun neighborhood, Evylin’s home did not fit the now upscale and hipster demeanor.
After a career renovating and redesigning homes, CliqStudios kitchen designer, Bill Hoeppner, was ready for the challenge. He saw through the ancient wallpapers, the prehistoric shag carpets, the peeling paint and crumbling plaster. Bill saw the bones of an architectural treasure: a 1922 Tudor with original fireplace and English-style architectural details including decorative columns, crown moldings, cathedral-arch windows and a built-in buffet. So, Bill and his wife, accustomed not simply to renovating homes but to resurrecting them. They scooped up the property on its first day of sale and went to work. “The crucial thing,” he said, “is to honor the great architecture here.”
The gargantuan job of steaming off and stripping the myriad layers of Evylin’s pink and turquoise wallpaper they thankfully hired out. The rest of the work they did themselves: the electrical work, the finish plumbing, the drywall and the trim.
The Kitchen Commanded A Major Share Of Attention
Here, Bill indulged his prowess as a professional kitchen designer and passion as an avid cook. As well as his desire to keep architectural integrity with the bones of the house. Because the built-in buffet in the dining room had inset doors, he installed CliqStudios Shaker Inset door style in the kitchen to match. Furthermore, a center section of the room and kitchen was bumped out.
When complete, Bill promises, the bones of the house will be restored, the integrity of the architectural treasure will be intact. Moreover, the tropical motifs of sunny Florida along with the 1940s glamour décor will fade into the past.
