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Floor plan of Ulster House by LGA Architectural Partners

The kitchen is adorned with Fireclay olive-green tile on the backsplash that ties to the green-painted custom millwork of the lower cabinetry.

By far the biggest transformation, the new kitchen enjoys high ceilings from the revamped roofline; all new casework, flooring, and finishes; and a large island. The stools are from 2xhome.

Douglas fir plywood is featured throughout the design.

Old meets new in the primary bathroom, complete with original wood paneling and tile work, as well as an oversized soaking tub.

Cedar on the porch’s deck, walls, and ceiling provides a natural counterpoint to the addition’s corrugated black metal cladding.

The shed-roof clerestory pop-up mimics the pitch of the original home’s roofline.

The renovation updated a pair of staircases—one to the basement, one to the upper level—from their steep, unsafe angle to one that is now up to code. In the dining room, the pendant by Hans-Agne Jakobsson is from Karoline’s family cabin in Germany.

Homeowner Karoline Lange’s family has been known to joke about the choice of cedar for cladding the porch. “My brother said, ‘Oh, that’s perfectly Karoline. It’s a giant sauna,” she says with a laugh. (She’s a member of the 612 Sauna Society, a mobile sauna co-op that moves around the Twin Cities.) “But that warm cedar feel and smell has such a homey, feel-good vibe.”

Despite the space’s relatively small size, its galley layout, with countertops on each side, easily accommodates multiple cooks.

One renovation request, homeowner Isaac Hase says, “was having a place to drop your shoes.” At the mudroom end of a run of kitchen cabinets, you’ll find another feature the couple asked for. “We wanted to have a dedicated, visible place for our little stash of cookbooks,” Karoline says.

Homeowner Isaac Hase installed custom cabinetry from Wisconsin cabinetmaker Woodcraft Specialties.