Bathroom of the Week: Traditional Style in a Historical Home
A two-story addition to a 1901 home in Minneapolis gives homeowners a beautiful and light-filled primary bathroom
The couple who bought this 1901 Colonial Revival home in a suburb of Minneapolis waited a few years before altering it, even though it lacked a primary bathroom and had an inadequate kitchen. “They wanted to see what they liked and what wasn’t working for them prior to remodeling,” says Joe Dean, designer and project manager at TreHus Architects + Interior Designers + Builders. Once they had a good idea of what they wanted, the couple hired his firm to build a two-story addition with a kitchen on the first floor and a primary suite above.
Because respecting the home’s original architecture was important to the homeowners, Dean and his team first removed a poorly done addition off the back of the house. Then they designed and built a new addition that expanded the home in a seamless and cohesive way. In this new primary bathroom, traditional elements and classic finishes honor the home’s style and period.
Because respecting the home’s original architecture was important to the homeowners, Dean and his team first removed a poorly done addition off the back of the house. Then they designed and built a new addition that expanded the home in a seamless and cohesive way. In this new primary bathroom, traditional elements and classic finishes honor the home’s style and period.
The pale blue walls and light from the windows give the bathroom a fresh, airy and calming ambiance. “We used a classic palette that easily blended with the original parts of the home,” Dean says. The freestanding bathtub, hexagonal floor tile with floret pattern and subway shower tiles suit the home’s turn-of-the-century roots. But the streamlined profile of the tub as well as the shower tiles’ elongated dimensions (3½ by 12 inches) and handmade texture are subtle updates.
Dean also matched the existing millwork profiles and the window style to the original architecture, creating a cohesive feel with the addition. The windows are double-hung units from Marvin. “The grid patterns were ordered to match the precedent set by the original windows,” Dean says.
Wall paint: Sea Salt, Sherwin-Williams
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Dean also matched the existing millwork profiles and the window style to the original architecture, creating a cohesive feel with the addition. The windows are double-hung units from Marvin. “The grid patterns were ordered to match the precedent set by the original windows,” Dean says.
Wall paint: Sea Salt, Sherwin-Williams
Browse white freestanding bathtubs in the Houzz Shop
The tub’s polished chrome floor-mounted faucet is centered between the windows. It includes a handheld wand that makes the tub easy to clean.
York freestanding bathtub: Victoria + Albert; tub filler: Cassidy floor-mount, Delta
How to Design a Bathroom That’s Easy to Clean
York freestanding bathtub: Victoria + Albert; tub filler: Cassidy floor-mount, Delta
How to Design a Bathroom That’s Easy to Clean
The adjacent sitting room off the primary bedroom is also part of the addition. While the home isn’t located in an overlay district with specific historic preservation requirements, it was important to the couple to maintain the historical look of the home. “We re-created all the exterior details of the original architecture on the new addition,” Dean says.
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Hire a tile professional
Trehus designed and fabricated the walnut double vanity in-house. Honed Carrara marble countertops add an elegant, classic touch. Tilting metal-framed mirrors reflect the light from the windows. And the classic silhouettes and finishes on the light fixtures fit right in with the traditional feel.
The floors are heated to provide comfort during Minnesota’s cold winters.
Faucets: Cassidy two-handle widespread, Delta; mirrors: Charlotte, Gatco
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity
The floors are heated to provide comfort during Minnesota’s cold winters.
Faucets: Cassidy two-handle widespread, Delta; mirrors: Charlotte, Gatco
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity
The doors and drawers on the vanity are inset, and feet on the piece give it an era-appropriate furniture feel. Faceted crystal knobs are a traditional and pretty element that add lightness to the dark wood.
New to home remodeling? Click here to learn the basics
New to home remodeling? Click here to learn the basics
In this floor plan, the shower is in the bottom left corner. The door on the right is the pocket door that leads to the primary bedroom’s new sitting area.
Here’s a look at how the rooms on the second level work together. Before, the hall bath was the only full bathroom in the house. The slashed lines on the left represent the walls of the new addition, which includes the primary sitting area and bathroom.
See photos of the new kitchen in this addition
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See photos of the new kitchen in this addition
More on Houzz
Read more bathroom stories
Browse bathroom photos
Find a bathroom designer
Shop for your bathroom
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Minneapolis
Size: 142 square feet (13 square meters)
Designer and project manager: Joe Dean of TreHus Architects + Interior Designers + Builders
“As with many homes of this era, there was no primary bathroom, and the owners wanted a full-function bath with access from their bedroom,” Dean says. The homeowners’ wish list included windows to let in natural light as well as a separate tub and shower. With 142 square feet to work with, there was ample space to add a water closet for the toilet.
This photo was taken from a pocket door entry off the primary bedroom’s new sitting area, another part of the new addition. And it lends a strong sense of the bathroom’s layout: shower stall and water closet at the back, double vanity along the interior wall and a freestanding tub between the two windows.
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