4524 Bruce Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55424, USA

JMS Custom Homes - 4524 Bruce Avenue

Tudor-inspired design with natural stone accents reminiscent of pre-1940 country club architecture. Walk to 50th and France from this home boasting 4,763 square feet. Enjoy the intriguing bird's nest upper-level gathering room and lavish lower level with a walkup bar, media room, and gorgeous stone fireplace. The main level is perfect for both entertaining and everyday living with formal dining and a chef’s kitchen. Live in Edina where you will enjoy the parks and trails, award-winning schools, and a sense of community.

Edina City Council upholds neighbors' appeal on proposed home

Edina City Council upholds neighbors' appeal on proposed home by lkaczke, Aug 14, 2012

The proposed design of a new home in the Country Club District failed to win the approval of some of its neighbors.

The Edina City Council unanimously approved an appeal by several neighbors of a proposed replacement home at 4524 Bruce Ave., during its Aug. 6 meeting. The vote was the first time the city council hasn’t sided with the Edina Heritage Preservation Board on an appeal of a proposed certificate of appropriateness.

“There’s a home here that can be built, but it needs to go back,” Councilmember Josh Sprague said.

The Heritage Preservation Board approved in a 5-4 vote a certificate of appropriateness for the design of the new home. The home was built after 1944 and therefore, can be entirely removed, Edina Associate Planner Joyce Repya said. But the design plans for the new home are required to be approved for appropriateness by the board because of the district’s Edina Heritage Landmark status.

Jeffrey and Lorie Ericson have owned the existing home on the property since 1989 and are currently selling it to new owners, who are building the new home on the property.

Bruce Avenue residents Erik and Ann Wordelman and Kitty O’Dea appealed the board’s approval in July, taking issue with the front porch and non-traditional exterior materials proposed for the new home.

Gary Eidson, legal counsel for the Ericsons, wrote in a letter that the couple is “disappointed” in the appeal.

“One reason that the Ericsons are disappointed by their neighbors’ pursuit of this appeal is the hardship it has caused them in the scheduling of the closing of the sale of their home and their ability to commit to an alternative residence,” according to the letter.

The exterior of the home, which is being constructed by JMS Custom Homes, would include Hardi-plank panels that are meant to look like stucco and Miratec wood trim and stone accents.

The design presented to the Heritage Preservation Board in July was the second go-around. When the board reviewed the property in June, it stated the size and scale of the home was complimentary to the homes surrounding it, but the design was “too busy,” Repya said. Several changes were made to the design between June and July, but the house’s size and scale remained the same.

Bruce Avenue resident David Goldstein said during the public hearing on the appeal that two out of the three homes already built on Bruce Avenue by JMS Custom Homes are “widely loathed” by neighbors.

Erik Wordelman told the city council that most homes in the Country Club District lack porches and it should be removed from the home’s design before approval.

Matt Hanish, vice president of construction with JMS Custom Homes, said the Heritage Preservation Board has approved five homes with front porches.

“The existence of the front porch on the proposed home is fully compatible with the Country Club neighborhood and certainly does not set a new architectural precedent,” according to Eidson’s letter.

Mayor Jim Hovland and Council members Mary Brindle and Ann Swenson didn’t approve of the proposed porch on the home.

“The porch is just sort of floating in space,” Hovland said.

Brindle said the front porch on the design concerned her because it wasn’t an element that would have been on a home in the district in 1920.

Hovland said he didn’t like the manufactured materials being proposed for use on the exterior.

The proposed exterior materials were also at issue. Councilmember Ann Swenson said she was uncomfortable with the materials.

Examples of the materials weren’t provided to the Heritage Preservation Board before they approved the certificate of appropriateness, Repya said.

Bruce Avenue resident Amy Gustafson said during the public hearing that she was “hugely concerned” about the exterior materials.

Gustafson concluded her comments by alleging that the photos presented to the city council by Hanish as examples of original Country Club homes similar to the proposed home were inaccurate.

“He did put houses up that were redone from its original state, which I think is false material and I think is really disgusting,” Gustafson said.

O’Dea said the Heritage Preservation Board took none of the neighbors’ input into consideration when it considered the home’s design and new board members seemed confused as to what a Country Club Tudor design looks like.

“I’m asking for being consistent with the elements of a Country Club home,” she said.

Hanish said the Country Club District doesn’t include a home that is a true Tudor design.

4524 Bruce Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Photo from the survey of the Country Club neighborhood of Edina for the National Register of Historic Places, Sept 1980. Photograph by Jim Fridley.