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FeedCity Sights
A new home in a growing urban village revitalizes two empty nesters
By J. Trout Lowen
Photo by Maki Strunc Photography, Styled by D’Ette Roberts
Look south over the Mississippi River and downtown Minneapolis appears tenderly embraced by the arms of the Hennepin Avenue and Third Avenue bridges. Look east past the new Guthrie Theatre and the University of Minnesota until the skyline smudges out somewhere over downtown St. Paul. Peer down from the patio and into the heart of Minneapolis’ historic district. The Cobalt sits on University Avenue, across from the Ard Godfrey house, the oldest frame house still standing in Minneapolis. The neighborhood is full of other historic gems as well: Our Lady of Lourdes Church, the Stone Arch Bridge, and St. Anthony Falls. Surprisingly, however, the view isn’t the first thing on Merrie Stolpestad’s list when she tallies the benefits of the couple’s new empty-nest, urban lifestyle.
“It’s Lunds,” she admits with a laugh. “Lunds is my first favorite thing and the view is second.” Cobalt, a modern glass high-rise that is an arresting shade of blue, sits atop a retail-shopping plaza anchored by Lunds grocery store and pharmacy. White Way Cleaners, Minneapolis Floral, and Caribou Coffee are also just an elevator ride away.
The marriage of retail and high-rise residential in a single building, common in other urban centers, remains relatively unusual in the Twin Cities. In this case, it was largely a marriage of convenience, says Jim, who is the chairman and CEO of Exeter Realty and the developer of the project. Lunds had purchased the Rick’s grocery store that formerly occupied the middle of the block at about the same time Exeter purchased the former Eastgate shopping center and the four-story office building adjacent to it.
At the time, Jim had no intention of living there, but Merrie had other plans. She decided they should trade in their home of 19 years, a 7,000-square-foot house on a wooded cul-du-sac in Highland Park, for a more urban lifestyle. It was also Merrie, Jim notes, who decided to leave behind a lifetime of things that filled every nook, cranny, and closet. “I was ready to get rid of all my extra junk and change my lifestyle,” she says. “I didn’t need all that extra stuff. I had so many closets, I didn’t ever throw anything away. I didn’t have to.”
Photo by Maki Strunc Photography
Merrie’s long-time penchant for collecting Asian art and antiques also gives the ultra-modern space a warm, lived-in feel. In Jim’s study, a quarter-sawn oak desk with carved Chinese gargoyle legs sits comfortably across from the modern, marble-fronted gas fireplace. While the piece looks Asian, it was actually carved by a German immigrant craftsman in St. Paul. The Stolpestads purchased it at an estate sale right after they were married with $95 they borrowed from Merrie’s sister.
The home also has another unusual feature that harkens back to an earlier time. Instead of squandering space on a scarcely used guestroom, a Murphy bed is tucked between bookcases in the study. The pull-down double bed easily accommodates the occasional overnight or weekend stay, as does the convenient three-quarter bath off the study. What would have been the second bedroom is space allocated to Merrie’s hobbies—sewing and paper crafts, such as collage and card making.
Not that she has much time for them anymore, she says. Living in the heart of the city offers new diversions. The Stolpestads are a short stroll from more than a dozen restaurants, including Fugaise, Gardens of Salonica, and neighborhood stalwart Nye’s Polonaise. It’s also an easy jaunt to catch a movie at Riverplace or a game at the Metrodome.
“We find we walk much more than we did,” Merrie says. “And we socialize more,” adds Jim. “When you’re rattling around, as we were, in a house that’s too big for you, it’s sort of isolating. We’ve met some nice, new friends here that we run into all the time, so we do things more often.”
They’ve also become night owls. “It’s so pretty at night. We find we eat later and we stay up later just looking at the view,” Merrie says. It’s easy enough to do, considering Lunds is open until 11 p.m.
J. Trout Lowen is a Minneapolis freelance writer.
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