EHR construction builds modern French Tudor style
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Modern French Tudor. That’s the phrase Tim Murphy coined to describe this five-bed, five-bath home in Minneapolis’ cozy Linden Hills neighborhood. As principal owner of GroundUp Development and a frequent business partner of Exceptional Homes & Remodeling (also known as EHR Construction), he envisions a home’s design to fit the lot, market and neighborhood and Exceptional Homes & Remodeling brings it to life, says Murphy. It just so happened that this particular house needed a style that you don’t see every day.
A modern Tudor portion is visible in the front elevation. Externally, the two light gray gables flow in a simple slab from peak to foundation, interrupted only by black-framed windows, classic Tudor arches, and elegant black lanterns. Pair that with the rest of the home’s mostly black exterior, and those gables become spiers—making a more luxurious home in a small space. While not everyone will register it, the partial plaster finish nods to the French influences in the interior — from the quartz, marble and white oak materials to the arches and parts of the strategic layout.
In appreciation of his unique style, Murphy named the 4,500-square-foot home Stupéfiant, or “breathtaking” in French, but defining what makes it so meant relying on a different word: luxury. There’s a roof deck off the master bedroom upstairs, energy-efficient Wirsbo heated floors downstairs, and natural light filtering in from The four-season porch and through custom interior sliding glass doors to the great room – and that’s just the beginning.
Then you have a large butler’s pantry and wine room, not to mention the kitchen itself, which features a full hood, custom quartz slab backsplash, pot filler, and custom white oak cabinets. “There are still a fair number of builders (at this home level) who don’t do true custom cabinets. They buy what we call box cabinets,” Murphy says. “Everything we do is custom. In the kitchen, we hand-paint with our painting crew. We hand paint all the trim with seven or eight coats of paint, so all the trim is sanded and putty and is one big piece. …We finish everything on site.”
The buyer, who purchased the home before it was completed, was inspired by another customization because of his technology background. Exceptional Homes & Remodeling installed a low-effort system of TVs, surround sound, and more that complement each other perfectly – just an extra touch to elevate and personalize.
“In the last four years, we’ve sold almost every house as soon as we started framing it,” Murphy says. “(Homeowners) always say to me, ‘You have a better view than I’ll ever have.’ ‘I see something I like,’ and from there, they make some adjustments — they say, ‘Make it so I want to have it,’ but they’ve already cut 90% or 85% of the way there.”
