Have you ever seen a sprawling, gorgeous home and thought, I wonder what’s inside? Artisan Home Tour offers an inside look at of some of the most jaw-dropping designs in the Twin Cities. From custom wallpaper and character-packed rooms to wellness spaces that would make your gym jealous, Artisan Home Tour showcases top-tier architecture, design, materials, and personalization.

With decades of Parade of Homes tours under its belt, presenting organization Housing First Minnesota created the Artisan Home Tour in 2014. “Home builders approached Housing First Minnesota and expressed a need for an opportunity to highlight homes that showcase the finest craftsmanship, design, and luxury home building in Minnesota—homes that truly exemplified artisan quality,” says Kristen Crossman of Housing First Minnesota. “The Artisan event is a curated experience, featuring only a select number of exceptional, multimillion-dollar homes; it offers visitors an intimate look at the artistry and expertise of Minnesota’s most exclusive builders and remodelers.”

To qualify, a new-construction home must have a sale price of at least $1.8 million—excluding the land value—or a minimum of $425 per square foot. “The point of the Artisan Home Tour is to showcase a distinctive home, a home that has a customized purpose for the people who will live there,” says Blake Swanson of Swanson Homes. “You see things like golf simulators, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, bowling alleys—it’s the type of home for people who value having that personalized aesthetic.” His father, Curt Swanson, helped to launch the initial Artisan Home Tour, and Swanson Homes has shown a house in almost every Artisan tour since.

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Environmentally conscious builder Sustainable 9 has also been in the tour for the last decade. “We’re huge fans of the Artisan Home Tour because it shows off the best of the best—from all the architects, interior designers, and builders that are part of the tour,” says Chad Hanson of Sustainable 9. Owners of tour homes enjoy bragging rights, too. “Clients are always happy that people get to see their home,” says Roy Lecy of Lecy Bros. Homes and Remodeling, which has shown new-build and remodeled homes in many tours to date.

Partial proceeds from tour tickets benefit the Housing First Minnesota Foundation, which helps to build and remodel safe housing for Minnesotans in need, including veterans and their families and young mothers in recovery. “It’s important to all of us builders,” Swanson says, “and for the homeowners, it’s a great way to give back without having to do much other than let people walk through their house for three weekends.”

While some visitors are just gobbling up the eye candy of Artisan interiors, for the many visitors who are in the market for a custom-built home or planning an elaborate remodel, these homes serve as a builder’s highlight reel. “It’s really become a showcase tour nationally,” Hanson says. “We usually have at least 20 to 30 different groups come through our homes that are not from Minnesota; they drive or fly here from all parts of the country just to experience the Artisan Home Tour.” Those out-of-state visitors range from homeowners gathering ideas for their own new build to industry professionals amassing inspiration. “They tell us that the Twin Cities puts on the best set of tours in the country,” Hanson says. “I think that speaks volumes about what Housing First has done.”

The point of the Artisan Home Tour is to showcase a distinctive home, a home that has a customized purpose. Blake Swanson, Swanson Homes

Natural Beauty

In the Deer Hill Preserve neighborhood of Medina, home #2 by Swanson Homes overlooks a scenic prairie-scape. About five minutes from downtown Wayzata, the home sits on a 1.5-acre lot with Baker Park Reserve in the background. “This family home—we call it sticky,” Swanson says. “It’s a sticky home, where the kids are always going to have their friends over, and when they go to college, they’re always going to be excited to come home.” The design includes a sport court, a golf simulator, a backyard pool, and plenty of outdoor space for quintessential ’Sota nights of yard games and bonfires. “The setting’s beautiful, and the home has a transitional flair; it’s not overly modern or overly traditional—it’s not super siloed in a certain design aesthetic,” Swanson says. The home focuses on health and wellness with a sauna and cold plunge, plus mindful lighting and minimal-emission technology. “There are just surprises around every turn,” Swanson says. “I don’t want to give them all away, but it’s a very interesting stop on the tour—it’s definitely not boring.”

Green with Envy

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In Highland Bridge on St. Paul’s Mississippi River Boulevard, Sustainable 9’s home #12 antes up on eco-friendly features. “It’s probably one of the most, if not the most energy-efficient home ever built in Minnesota,” Hanson says. Beyond planet-positive, their homes prioritize health too—that means no formaldehyde in the cabinets, no VOCs in the paint and glues, and triple-pane windows (at least!). “The homeowners were very focused on not building something too ostentatious,” Hanson says. “They didn’t need a large home; it sits right in that sweet spot of 3,000-plus square feet.” A Scandinavian-modern design bleeds into a minimalist interior with walnut cabinets that read midcentury modern, plus slat walls with integrated vertical lighting, concrete countertops, a floating metal staircase, and elm flooring. “It looks like white oak, but it has a little bit more grain pattern,” Hanson says. “It’s by far our favorite floor that we’ve ever installed.” Because the power couple works from home, the second-floor office suite features two built-in desks and a large sectional sofa. “Instead of a family room, the entire lower level is basically a wellness center retreat,” Hanson says. “It has a workout room and an elevated bathroom with a walk-in sauna.” West-facing massive front windows and a screened porch drink in river sunsets.

Geothermal heating and cooling uses the core temperature of the earth via water pipes in channels drilled 20 to 30 feet underground to regulate the furnace and air-conditioning temperature and increase efficiency. The home also features a rooftop solar array to power all the typical home systems and the geothermal system. “This is an all-electric home, which is becoming a huge trend,” Hanson says. Exterior continuous insulation increases the efficiency of the home and provides a sound barrier. “It’s basically like wrapping your entire home in a warm blanket,” he says. “So those systems I just talked about barely have to run because there’s very little temperature fluctuation.”

We’re huge fans of the Artisan Home Tour because it shows off the best of the best—from all the architects, interior designers, and builders that are part of the tour—it’s fantastic. Chad Hanson, Sustainable 9

A Shore Thing

As longtime residents of Lake Minnetonka, David and Jodie Bieker of Denali Custom Homes know a thing or two about waterfront property. “This home really reflects the design style of Denali—sleek and sophisticated but warm and built for the way people want to live,” Jodie Bieker says. On Lake Minnetonka, Denali’s home #4 is a modern, flat-roof house that spans 7,000 square feet and features panoramic windows. “It’s a glass-wrapped home with lake views from every single room,” she says. Flanked by a bank of windows, the expansive kitchen is ready-made for entertaining with three islands, including a prep space with a sleek sink and an island for serving and gathering, plus a full support kitchen masks any hosting mess. A bourbon-tasting room cues up cozy with a fireplace, seating area, and reclaimed-wood statement wall. The lower level includes a gym, gaming and movie area, and art studio and spills out to the adjacent channel area.

This modern retreat unites indoor and outdoor living with a screened porch and adjacent open-air grill deck. The open-concept kitchen, great room, and dining room flow onto a lakeside patio. And a large sliding window overlooking the channel opens directly from the kitchen to the screened porch for seamless serving.

Artisan Home Tour By The Numbers

$57 million+

The total estimated value of this summer’s Artisan homes, excluding lot values

339

The number of homes that have been featured in the Artisan lineup since 2014

46,000+

The number of visitors across last summer’s Artisan Home Tour

Event

Summer Artisan Home Tour

On view now through Sunday, June 22nd, 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m

Consider this your lookbook of Twin Cities talent in craftsmanship, architecture, and interior design. Sixteen new-construction homes and one remodeled home are open for inspiration.

Tickets

 New this year, tickets for the tour are available online only. A $35 all-access pass gets you into every home on the summer tour, and $7 single-home tickets are available for those looking to peek inside just one home.

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