the Turkish Delight @ Mother Earth : a deco boxcar mending 70's to 30's

another depiction of what the classic home is capable of. the “turkish delight” at Mother Earth was appropriately named for its archways and seventies vibrancy of 360 yellow tiles that we chose to work into our retrofit into the modern times. this building is added to our apartments-in-rareform roster to serve as the last stop for tenants on their path to becoming classic homeowners.

this deco era boxcar was designed & executed by Improvement Co. on another one of our free thinking creative revivals that placed an emphasis on primary colors and use of enamel on coved ceilings, the big AHA coming from the re-issued creativity of working with existing 70’s finishes in the baths and kitchens.

aligning the doorway arches created a wonderful layout in both boxcar units (North Unit in photos)

Steps from Mother Earth, this building was cherished by long term owners who retired to Arizona, incredible care was given in the form of new HVAC, roof, and fully fenced yard. Her garden shed is complete with two of each tool to live up to Longfellow’s gardenia reputation!

a palette perfect for mother earth gardens and their wonder of gardenia for Longfellow & all of Twin Cities

Turkish Delight measures at 850 square feet on the main and equivalent amount of basement storage space perfect for arts // crafts home gym as the first tenants Kaci & Micah have their peloton happily out of their apartment.

the red stained checkerboard is scaled to match the original pastel kitchen tiles, this idea stemmed from our jade douglas fir project at our Pinepoint BNB on Bass Lake

Nicky-on-the-level was instrumental in the absolute curation that occurred at turkish delight: formica counters, checkerboard 360 kitchens, cedar sauna baths completed the playful and poppy vibe of our latest classic apartment.

the deco boxcar is our personal favorite of original apartment layouts for several reasons. Turkish Delight has a staggered doorway through the kitchen that was altered to allow for pass through flow from the rear mudroom to the front common areas.

the arches were matched from the original ones expertly by Improvement co. The finished product resulted in impactful kitchen counter-space for the cooks incorporating the original shaker wall to the modern bases and yellow-formica re-issue.

We are super proud of this modernization, completed to provide years of joyous classic housing steps from the river at Mother Earth.

Anya did an incredible job of incorporating the existing pastel yellow tiles into the final design with bold Riviera enameled cabinetry under formica & ruby ceramic tile.

both units have stained glass piano windows and arches throughout the apartments, blonde oak in matte

the dueling bold tones on the crown and cove make Turkish’s interiors one of one, providing so much joy in the finished product for our team and the initial stewards of Mother Earth.

North Side kitchen: vent-a-hood and floating shelves pair well with full birch shaker wall of original cabinetry.

projects like this deliver remarkable utility witnessing the final product, special thanks to our team!

the process of turning this cherished boxcar into a one-off deco marvel was quite simple, only because of Improvement Co. and our trades that have tailored this style of renovation down to a science. Millwork, enamel, hardwoods, lighting, hvac, kitchens and baths had every surface covered from prior owners.

the units were kept in amazing original condition which sparked our deep enthusiasm for turning this one into a striking example. Special thanks to our trades at Improvement Co for executing this outstanding example depicting the core values of RareForm’s belief in classic home restoration, this was a project that we left minimal alteration to the design choices that came from the 30’s through 60s & 70s that we honored in the modern touches made to create another showstopper in our roster of city apartments.