Reinventing home: A lofty makeover

There was a lot of rubbernecking at the corner of 39th and Vincent Avenue S. last summer. There, perched high on stilt-like supports, sat the second floor of a quaint cottage-style house. Below it, instead of a main floor, was nothing but air.

We got a lot of gawkers driving by, said Jeff Nicholson, owner of Quartersawn, the contractor who oversaw the unusual remodeling project.

Wed see pictures of our house on Facebook and we didnt put them up, said homeowner Peter Ihrig.

The makeover didnt start out so extreme.

Ihrig bought the southwest Minneapolis house in 2013 intending to make modest changes, he said.

We liked the location that was most important, said Starla, his wife since July. The house was just two blocks from Lake Calhoun and conveniently located on a bus line. I work downtown, and I have door-to-door bus service, Peter said.

The house itself was not their dream home. Built as a small cottage in 1913, it had undergone many modifications over the years, including the addition of a second floor in 1994.

It was very segmented, said Peter. We wanted to open it up. To do that, the Ihrigs intended to relocate the basement stairway, which was too narrow to allow carrying a laundry basket, and so low that Peter often hit his head on the ceiling.

But when Quartersawn started excavating, they found a surprise. There were no frost footings under a one-room addition dating back to 1991.

This presented a problem and an opportunity.

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Reinventing home: A lofty makeover