Home & Design | A Rambler of Reinvention

To say that Jeffrey and Kay Stamp are always up for a creative challenge is putting it mildly. First, take Jeffrey. As a product designer, entrepreneur, and scientist with degrees from the University of Minnesota, he’s constantly tasked with coming up with the next big thing. His ingenuity is behind hits like Baked Lay’s, the lower-fat potato chip Jeffrey created in his corporate days. Now, take Kay. When Jeffrey showed her a picture of a midcentury modern–inspired house with a skillion roof, she broke into a sly smile and confidently said, “I can make that.”

I didn’t want it to look futuristic modern. I wanted it to look ’60s modern. I was trying to revive my vision for what I saw in Mad Men. — Jeffrey Stamp, homeowner 

Today, the two live, work, and invent in that cool-looking creation—a 1968 rambler they remodeled and enlarged. With its showy glass-and-cedar center section that incorporates the single-sloped roof, it’s the type of house passersby notice. Inside, walled-in spaces were opened up to create a large, airy main living area that flexes well with all parts of their personal and professional lives. (Jeffrey runs his aptly named company, Bold Thinking, out of the home, which backs up to a nature reserve.)

“It was all birthed just by being creative,” says Jeffrey, who credits Minnetonka-based builder John Boyer with bringing Kay’s sketches to fruition. “We had to create it just like anything else. When you say you want to make a low-fat potato chip, people say,  ‘You want to do what?’ A lot of people had a similar reaction to our plans for the house.”

Creativity aside, karma may have played a role, too. The only other couple to live in the house in its 50-year history shared a similar entrepreneurial spirit with the Stamps. The original owner, Floyd Buschbom, was a farmer turned inventor who made his mark automating farm equipment. Jeffrey noticed some of that forward thinking playing out in the features of the original house, such as the inclusion of an elevator that seemed ahead of its time. (A shower now fills part of the shaft.)

The irony of this creative couple—who have lived in other countries and traveled the world—finding this house here and returning to their Minnesota roots isn’t lost on Jeffrey. “It’s pretty fascinating that this is where we ended up,” he says. 

I’m the most happy seeing how well the home functions for us, for the family, and for work. Not only does it look nice; each room can function in multiple ways. —Kay Stamp, homeowner  

Builder: John Boyer, Boyer Building Corporation, 3435 Cty. Rd. 101, Minnetonka, 952-475-2097, boyerbuilding.com