This traditional-style home had to be torn to the studs for a fresh start

Built some 80 years ago, the lake home owned by Tina Hanson and Tom Hagg had already seen its fair share of repairs and alterations during the 25 years the couple owned the house. The pair was just about to add some final touches, transforming the abode into their forever home for their golden years, when disaster struck.

“We finished our last remodel in 2016, and then we had our dishwasher malfunction,” Hanson remembers. “It ran heated water throughout the house. Basically, everything had to be started all over again because of the amount of water damage.”

Photo by Patrick Stutz

It was winter, and they were out of town. “I called anyone I could to help with the house. It was a disaster, but Jerry showed up right away,” Hanson says about Jerry Schmidt, sales director of Dream House Dream Kitchens, who did the cabinetry. “I told him, ‘Jerry, whatever we decide to do, you are going to be a part of it.’  ”

The challenging situation proved a unique opportunity for the team Hanson assembled, which included Dream House Dream Kitchens and Washa Remodeling & Design. This new remodel took about six months just to get off the ground because so much of the interior had to be removed.

The 3D color renderings of the new cabinetry that Dream House Dream Kitchens created really helped Hanson envision how everything would fit in the new kitchen. This was particularly crucial, given the amount of flood damage that she had, Schmidt says, who also worked with designer Kimberlin Payne. “Everything was soaked and ruined, so [they] had to start their house all over.”

Tom Hagg and Tina Hanson worked with a team of professionals
on the latest update. Photo by Patrick Stutz

With its Tudor brick features and towering peaks, the house appears, from the exterior at least, classic in tone. “But it’s more of a transitional home in a way,” Schmidt says. “Inside the home, Tina had done a really nice job over the years modernizing it.”

In a grand room looking out onto the water — Hanson calls it her lake room — metal door inserts below the TV and intermixed open shelves with lift-up doors modernize the space, while wallpaper along the back of the cabinetry creates visual interest.

“Every room has just enough features that when you walk from room to room, each room has its own unique presence,” Schmidt says. But Hanson wanted to make sure all the rooms across all three floors worked together.

“We wanted the new interior designs to have a flow, just like the lake has a flow,” she says. “I wanted everything to be natural.” They opted for quartzite countertops and travertine stone floors, all in neutral sand colors and grays. “They all feel like they have flow like a wave.”

Let’s hope there aren’t any other water-related moments they’ll have to deal with for the rest of their days, besides taking in those lake views.

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