Every dream house begins with a vision. For one Edina couple, theirs was as refined as their aesthetic: a gracious, California-inspired Mediterranean abode nestled on a quiet street in a wooded neighborhood in Edina. They’d long admired the work of John Kraemer & Sons, the Edina-based custom home builder, and interior designer Robb Whittlef, founder of Wayzata-based Historic Studio, so when it came time to gather a team of trusted experts to create their family’s new home, they knew exactly who to call.
“Planning and building a one-of-a-kind, architect-designed home in an established neighborhood requires seamless collaboration with trusted design partners and meticulous attention to detail,” says John Kraemer, president of the family-owned company, which was founded by his father and grandfather in 1978. “My team and I have worked with many of the clients’ friends to build legacy family estates, so we were honored to be entrusted to lead their project.”
Photography by Mike McCaw / Spacecrafting
The first step was to manifest a lot that matched the couple’s design goals, including an indoor basketball court, an outdoor oasis with a swimming pool and alfresco entertaining area beneath a loggia, and other luxe amenities. “Long before our clients sign a purchase agreement, we work closely with their realtor to assess site conditions, zoning guidelines and any potential restrictions and determine a lot’s feasibility,” explains Kraemer. “By the time our clients close on their lot, we’ve done all the groundwork and we’re ready to start design development with the architect, interior designer and landscape architect.”
For a year, the couple looked at dozens of lots with Kraemer and their realtor, but none quite felt like home — until they serendipitously discovered a lot in Edina that checked all the boxes, including optimal buildability and walkability to the restaurants, shops and historic movie theater at 50th & France. Then the real fun began.
“Designing a custom home is about channeling the DNA of our clients, understanding how they want to live and then taking them far beyond what they could ever dream,” says Whittlef. Like many of his clients, he divides his time between Minnesota and Southern California, so he understood the assignment of a glamorous yet comfortable family abode.
“Our clients are incredibly sophisticated and well-traveled,” he continues. “She loves fashion, he collects fine art, and as a family, they love sports, so I instantly envisioned a timeless, 1920s-style house with the graciousness of Hancock Park, the pizzazz of Brentwood and the opulence of Bel Air — but down-to-earth and functional in a uniquely Minnesota way.”
Whittlef is a connoisseur of all things historic, hence the name of the studio (now owned by Susie Wittine, his longtime colleague and design partner). He’s a devotee of Reginald Davis Johnson, Edwin Wallace Neff, George Washington Smith and other legendary California architects. He’s also a regular at Design Los Angeles on La Cienega, the antique stores of West Hollywood and the Pacific Design Center showrooms. So as he drove around Los Angeles, he sent a steady stream of images to Kraemer and job superintendent Steve Weckwerth to inform and inspire the project. Whittlef gathered stucco colors from iconic homes in Hancock Park and snapped discreet photos of the graceful curving driveways and lush gardens of Bel Air and Beverly Hills. He sent images of the circa-1927 Wilshire Ebell Theatre as reference for the front entry and photos of the wood paneling at the Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel in Montecito to shape the stairwell.
“When Robb and Susie would ask Steve and me if we could craft an authentic, European-style curved stone staircase or another unique design element, our answer was always, ‘Yes, we can do that,’” says Kraemer. “Design is at the heart of everything we do, so we loved collaborating with them and our other artisan partners to make it happen.”
Kraemer and Weckwerth carefully matched the historic Los Angeles stucco hues to the ever-changing palette of Minnesota, and collaborated with John Richards of Orijin Stone to create a stately, curved stone entry with hand-carved wooden doors. While Mona Hurkadli of Mona Hurkadli Design was curating the custom cabinetry, Whittlef worked with Nick Marsden, president of River Heights Outdoor Solutions, to convey an elegant California landscape in East Edina with arborvitae, boxwoods, hydrangeas and other winter-hardy perennials. Like the clients, Marsden and his wife, Lindsay, love traveling and watching their children play sports, so he knew exactly how to design an elevated yet family-friendly outdoor environment for entertaining, swimming and soaking up the summer rays.
“This was a technically challenging project, but the creative collaboration with Robb, John, Steve and the clients made it both fun and successful,” says Marsden. “Our design for the property was intentionally simple, and I’m proud of the way the landscaping complements the architecture of the home.”
Whittlef also took his clients on a whirlwind design adventure that swung from Minneapolis to High Point, North Carolina, to Santa Barbara, California. “Minnesota is an amazing place — which is why we all love living here — but if you’re going to create a truly distinctive home, you also have to shop the world,” he says with a laugh. Together, they hunted for antiques at H&B Gallery in Minneapolis to mix with the homeowners’ collection of fine art and treasures from the Paris flea markets. Whittlef met the clients at Rosewood Miramar Beach and gave them a behind-the-hedges tour of his favorite Spanish oceanfront estates in Montecito. On another memorable jaunt, they shopped High Point Market with Whittlef’s longtime friend Carson Kressley, the multi-hyphenate fashion designer, equestrian and star of the early 2000s Bravo hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
When the house was ready for its close-up, the clients walked through every room, savoring each fabulous detail. From the dazzling dressing room with glass-fronted cabinets to the charming elevator with a wallcovering made from treasured family photos, each space was perfect. Just as Kraemer and Whittlef had promised, their new home was far beyond what they could have ever dreamed.
Project Partners
Builder: John Kraemer & Sons
Interior designer: Historic Studio
Landscape architect: River Heights Outdoor Solutions
Cabinet designer: Mona Hurkadli Design
