Little House, Prairie Style

There are so many cool facts and trivia about Minnesota. Also known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota was the 32nd US state to join the union. Its name was derived from a Dakota (Siouan language) term which translates to sky-tinted water. The stapler, rollerblades, masking and Scotch Tape (or at least its precursor), the bundt pan and HMOs were invented in Minnesota. Wheaties cereals, SPAM, Bisquick and Aveda Beauty products are all mad ein Minnesota. The first bone marrow transplant was successfully performed in Minnesota by a University of Minnesota doctor in 1968.

Another cool fact about Minnesota is that it has amazing architecture. Period houses ranging from Colonials, Tudors, Bungalows, to Ranches, and more, once dominated its landscape. A style of architecture once predominant in Minnesota is known as the Prairie School of Architecture — a close cousin of the American Arts and Crafts movement. As the term prairie implies, the dominant features of Prairie style structures are their wideness, flatness and horizontal orientation paralleling the same topographical characteristics of a young America with its wide, treeless, flat expanses of land.

This type of architectural style was popular in Minnesota and in the whole Midwest from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. A Prairie School house has a wide horizontal appearance and roofs that are flat. It would have several vertical windows on its sides. Roof edges, also known as eaves, exceed the frames of the house. A couple of its advantages are good ventilation and natural lighting.

Remodeling Minnesota Prairie style houses for those who own them should be fun in this day and age of power tools. There are several How to TV shows that encourage DIY projects that can walk one through the step-by-step process of making and building things.

One way to go about remodeling Minnesota Prairie style houses is to mix and match features of the old and the new. For example, one can preserve the old Prairie style structure and then incorporate that with the use of new, high tech appliances and home gadgetry.

Over and above maintenance purposes, it can be fun to remodel houses to add a few upgrades here and there. Homeowners should plan everything carefully when remodeling Minnesota houses. Consulting architects, engineers and interior decorators as well as a professional remodeleris highly recommended for those who wantto have their houses renovated.