Mediterranean on Mississippi
WHAT
New Home
WHERE
Minneapolis, MN
Mediterranean style home on the shores of the Mississippi River, was carefully shaped, sited and designed to blend with its surrounding environment, while taking advantage of the expansive views of the river and keeping in mind the grove of pine trees along the southeast portion of the property. Preserving the trees also provided the home with the buffer and a sense of privacy, adding a wooded atmosphere.
The house orientation was flipped 180 degrees which was earlier proposed by another designer, as part of the architect's overall design concept recommendations.
The clients initially were considering a Rambler/Ranch style home,, considering accessibility through the home as one of the main objectives of future concern.
However considering the budget constraints, the architect was able to direct them towards a two story design with smaller footprint, including a space designed for a future elevator, serving all three levels of the house.
They also requested a four car garage design to include space for a car hoist requiring a higher ceiling. That was addressed by placing the second floor over the half of the garage and allow the other half to have the needed ceiling height and blend the two halves with minimum distractions.
The home also includes an in-house business offices with its own separate entrance on the home's lower walk-out level.
What the homeowner says:
My wife and I began an odyssey in 2006 when we started designing a high-end home to be built on an amazing Mississippi River lot. We hired Habitat Architecture to give us a fresh perspective on a previous architect's plans, and it was the best move we could have made. Hamid learned about us, what we were trying to accomplish, our budget, and most of all, how our new home would integrate in with its surroundings, by taking our extensive list of wishes, the incredible South facing river views, existing old growth trees and our budget into account - and created a Mediterranean masterpiece.
His complete redesign maximized our design requirements and created an incredible, visually exciting and very comfortable and livable home. We truly do have a 'wow' house.
His input on the design, layout and function of the home was invaluable, and without his involvement, I doubt the project would have been a success. The flow, feel and relaxing tone of our home comes from staying true to a design ideal, and Habitat was there for us every step of the way.
Working as our advocate with the builder, he helped keep the technical details of the project on track, corrected foundation framing errors and added a critical 3rd view of the project throughout construction. Without his input before, during and after the building process, so many details would have been done incorrectly or left out. He kept his attention level high and the builder on task. He truly was our project manager, design consultant and advocate.
Our home was featured on the 2011 Homes by Architects Tour, and was highly praised.
After 5 years, we still say "wow" every day. We would highly recommend Hamid and Habitat Architecture to anyone looking for architect services - even if you have one already!
Ed Klemz - Minneapolis, MN