Before & After: How a Couple Reimagined Their Minnesota Ranch House With Japanese Design Principles
"The goal was to look at things from 500, 700, 800 years ago that are still useful," says homeowner Wes Crouch. "Simple, purposeful spaces will always be in style."
"The goal was to look at things from 500, 700, 800 years ago that are still useful," says homeowner Wes Crouch. "Simple, purposeful spaces will always be in style."
Seeking a more comfortable, livable home isn’t always about square footage. Sometimes, it’s about pace and quality of life. For Wes and Tara Crouch, that realization took shape after living in Seattle for years. With the arrival of their third son, suburban Minneapolis—where Tara had grown up—began to feel like the right place to build a more grounded life close to family. "We had these lives to steward," Wes says. "The desire to be intentional about our home and the space we live in became important."
Before: Exterior
Before: Homeowners Wes and Tara Crouch were drawn to the practical design of the mid-1960s ranch in Saint Paul, Minnesota. "My grandfather built a house close to Seattle, and it was a brick ranch house," Wes says. "I always had fond memories of, gosh, this is highly functional…the fact that the main floor is the main floor."
Photo courtesy of Keep
That philosophy resonated deeply with Wes, who lived in Japan for three years early in his career as an operations manager for an apparel manufacturer. While there, he developed an appreciation for Japanese design and its emphasis on intentionality and restraint. "I loved the architecture and simplicity," he says, fondly recalling a coworker’s 16th-century house in the mountains with no electricity and no running water. "It’s where we would go hang out on the weekends."
After: Exterior
Excavating the lower level allowed the design team to install large windows facing a nature preserve and lake in Wes’s office. Although a handful of windows—including these—and the sliding glass doors off the main living area are new, most of the home’s existing windows were retained as part of the renovation.
Photo by Wing Ho
But the search for a home close to Tara’s family proved unexpectedly difficult. "Everything was a split-level or 5,000 or 7,000 square feet," Wes says with a laugh. "We didn’t need a sport court."
What they wanted wasn’t necessarily a larger house, but one that aligned more closely with how they hoped to live. "It was about quality over quantity—and something we could make our own that didn’t necessarily need to be perfect," Wes says.
The raised, covered porch is reminiscent of a Japanese engawa, a veranda-like transitional space that connects the home to the landscape. The renovation expanded views to the lake with new windows in the primary bedroom and bath, and sliders that replaced a standard solid door in the living area.
Photo by Wing Ho
See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: How a Couple Reimagined Their Minnesota Ranch House With Japanese Design Principles
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