For the past 10 years, the outdoors has beckoned Jesse and Katie Kath. In the fall, their family often drives from Minneapolis to the north shore of Lake Superior, when the leaves change and the temperature cools. Sometimes they fly to Cannon Beach, a popular coastal town in northern Oregon. In these rocky, wave-battered landscapes, they find a certain kind of peace, freed from their perpetual duties as small business owners and parents of three teenagers.
“It’s uninterrupted family time,” says Katie. “There are fewer distractions from devices, work, and our kids are pulled in different directions – from summer sports to hanging out with friends.”
Jesse and Katie own Jkath Design Build + Reinvent, a company that specializes in large-scale remodels and renovations of historic homes. When they became clients themselves and began building a nest for their blended family, they drew inspiration from their trips hiking through the woods, strolling along rugged coastlines, and swapping stories around evening campfires. “We wanted to bring those feelings into the space,” Katie explains.
The Kaths’ new home fits into their established neighborhood of early 20th-century Tudor houses, bungalows and cottages – an era Katie loves. “Even though it’s new construction, we wanted it to blend in, with a touch of history that feels a little more contemporary,” says Katie.
Working with architect Jeff Lindgren, the couple rose to the challenge. The house draws on the Tudor tradition, with details like long sloped ceilings and arched alcoves. But where Tudor styles can seem a bit dark and cramped, the Kaths’ home is light and airy, with oversized windows and an open floor plan overlooking the backyard. It has trendy black window frames and wide-panel siding, but forgoes the pure white common in new construction; warm cream and cool gray better match the existing homes nearby.
The back of the house also features a stylishly modern three-season porch inspired by their Northwoods vacations and clad in black James Hardie siding. “We built the house around this room,” says Katie. “We really only close it up for a few months in the winter. When it gets colder, we just fire up the fireplace, put on slippers or slippers, and grab a blanket. It’s kind of our main living room.”
With two children in high school and a third heading off to college this fall, the Kaths are in a new phase of life and are finding it harder to plan family trips. But the porch has taken on exactly the role they hoped it would: a sort of everyday cabin. “Jesse and I sit outside in the evenings and work on our laptops or have a glass of wine while the kids come and go and tell us about their day,” Katie says. Just as their home has settled comfortably into its surroundings, they have settled into all of its spaces—inside, outside, and delightfully in between.
Katie Kath
Minnesota is just so beautiful in the spring, summer and fall. We don’t take that for granted. We want to be outside more than anything.
—Katie Kath
Visit the house
Three-season porch
Jesse hangs out on the three-season porch with Sienna, 18, and Lyla, 16 (on the floor). The family spends most of their time here—working, chatting, playing, and cheering on the Timberwolves. The stacked vinyl windows slide and nestle to light nearly the entire space and allow for maximum fresh air. The concrete floor stays cool in the summer, and a gas fireplace flickers in the fall.
New builds typically prefer year-round sunrooms, but the Kaths really wanted a space that felt like the outdoors – just a little cozier and bug-free. They briefly considered retractable screens to keep a clear view in the cooler months, but settled on fixed screens and stackable vinyl windows, which are less prone to mechanical problems.
Kitchen
Katie and Charlie, 16, are the family’s cooks. “He took an interest when we were designing the kitchen, reading the specs of the appliances and looking at the views of the cabinets,” says Katie. “He even downloaded an app and controls the dishwasher from his phone – all the things I’ll never do.” The spacious alder wood kitchen island has easy-care honed HanStone quartz countertops and open shelving for quick access to everyday dishes. Mercury glass pendants add an old-fashioned character.
Breakfast corner
A breakfast nook juts out from the back of the house, complete with pull-out windows on two sides and a built-in bench seat made by Jesse. “I’ve always wanted one, they’re so nostalgic,” says Katie. “It feels like a restaurant booth.” The couple often starts their day here to discuss business matters.
Throughout the house, the couple mixed light and dark wood tones. Katie says this is one of her favorite professional tricks for adding architectural interest to new spaces.
Mud room
Every family member has a place in the laundry room – even Otis, the five-year-old Cavapoo. “He knows that’s his closet,” Katie says of the green drawers. “He just sits there and fights for treats.” Cutouts in the cabinets provide ventilation and reflect a motif on the house’s exterior gables.
Guest toilet
The powder room looks like part of a home many decades older, thanks to William Morris wallpaper, painted moldings and a stained wood door with a polished brass knob. The nine-foot-tall door “makes everything in the hallway feel more dramatic and seamless,” says Katie.
Individual storage in the hall
Jesse helped design this cabinet with fluted glass doors that will sit in a hallway between the kitchen and dining room. The doors open to create pantry space and extra dish storage. “It’s meant to be an heirloom, so if we didn’t have this house in the future and wanted to take something with us or pass it on, it’s a little legacy for our business and for what Jesse and I do,” says Katie.
Living room
The living room combines clean, modern lines (picture windows and an elegant stone fireplace) with hand-hewn rusticity (reclaimed oak beams and a custom alder cabinet). “We wanted to use nature as much as possible for city living,” Katie says of the oversized windows. The arched built-in provides space for display above the alder cabinet Jesse built.
During a public tour of the house, visitors noticed the Kaths’ small living room – a conscious sacrifice that the couple made in order to acquire a large veranda with a fly screen.
washroom
The second-floor laundry room has a luxurious feel, says Katie, with its abundance of storage. It’s located off a hallway that’s surrounded by the kids’ bedrooms. Details like the paneling above the sink, open and closed shelves and bins, and a fresh coat of blue-gray paint create an open and airy space. Katie made the clothes rack out of a dowel made from leather straps that she found on Etsy.
The second-floor footprint was large enough to accommodate a laundry room because the garage was attached—a feature Katie initially opposed because she didn’t want the driveway to stand out so much. However, the attached garage preserved more of the garden and created more space upstairs. “The decision to extend beyond the garage allowed for this easy additional space; otherwise we probably would have just planned a stackable closet for the washer and dryer,” she says.
Primary Suite
The master suite is at the front of the house and overlooks a creek and the Minneapolis skyline. “In the winter, when the trees are bare, we can see the kids skating on the creek,” Katie says. “It’s like a Charlie Brown moment.” A painting of a favorite Oregon spot hangs above the bed, and table lamps reflect the rocky coastal landscape. Built-in cabinets with open shelves for books are located under the eaves, and drawers hold linens and Katie’s latest knitting project.
Main bathroom
A niche in the master bathroom echoes other arched details throughout the home, providing space for bathing essentials near the tub, which offers the same greenery views as the bedroom.
The Kaths avoided the trend of huge master baths with massive showers and opted for a (still spacious) galley-style space, creating space for two walk-in closets in the master suite.
James designed and built the fluted alder vanity. Single-lever pedestal faucets remind Katie of the practical heirlooms found in old European homes. The blue-gray tiles in the shower are framed in white marble to form a modern herringbone pattern.