Todd Melby's blog

by Todd Melby, 8/15/08 • After conducting services in a former Mormon meeting house for decades, the congregation of B’nai Israel Synagogue in Rochester, Minnesota recently moved into a new building designed by architect Joan Sorrano of HGA Architects.

by Todd Melby, August 12, 2008 • Preservationists are fretting over the fate of the Bardwell-Ferrant House, a Moorish Revival house located at 2500 Portland Avenue South in Minneapolis. Two years ago, the 1883 house sold for $385,000 (minus about $7,700 in owner upgrades). Today, Countrywide Mortgage is trying to unload the foreclosed property for $229,900.

Preservationists are fretting over the fate of the Bardwell-Ferrant House, a Moorish Revival house located at 2500 Portland Avenue South in Minneapolis. Two years ago, the 1883 house sold for $385,000 (minus about $7,700 in owner upgrades). Today, Countrywide Mortgage is trying to unload the foreclosed property for $229,900.

by Todd Melby, 8/1/08 • Tickets go on sale today for AIA Minnesota’s Homes by Architects, a self-guided tour of 25-plus homes, scheduled for Sept. 20-21. All the residences on the tour were designed by architects, including Dale Mulfinger, Charles Stinson, David Salmela, Jean Rehkamp Larson, Geoffrey Warner, James McNeal and others.

The house in the photograph is located at 20505 Linden Road in Deephaven and was designed by David Salmela of Duluth.

by Todd Melby, 7/29/08 • As rain continued to seep into historic structures at Fort Snelling, the cost of revitalizing those buildings has risen from $65 million to $80 million in just two years, according to preservationist Chuck Liddy of Miller Dunwiddie Architecture in an article in Finance and Commerce.