an arched hallway in a historic carriage house turned office — A woman walking through an arched stone entrance to an old carraiage house in a museum in an old mansion

February 22, 2024

How Designers Transformed a Historic Carriage House into a Cultural Center

2023 Best of Year Winner for Office Transformation

Renovations of historic properties often yield surprises. In the case of a 1908 carriage house built for horses and linked to a mansion from the same era, both of which were donated in 1929 by Swan Turnblad and now contain the American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis—a place to experience Swedish culture and that serves immigrants of all backgrounds—peeling back layers of earlier modifications yielded such original details as textured floor pavers and a turntable used for rotating Turnblad’s car after he graduated from a horse. Some of these were incorporated into the 7,000-square-foot offices by HGA, which were given the warmth of a Nordic home with custom millwork painted a color inspired by the existing patinated copper on the building’s exterior.

See Interior Design’s Best of Year Winners and Honorees

Explore must-see projects and innovative products that took home high honors.

2025 WINNERS

Restored wooden arch top window in museum in historic mansion

Meeting room and flexible space in older museum with original vaulted ceiling and supports visible

People working in office of museum with adjoining desks and barn doors leading to offices

A woman walking through an arched stone entrance to an old carraiage house in a museum in an old mansion

PROJECT TEAM

nancy blankfard; rebecca krull kraling; michelle hammer; andy weyenberg; ginny lackovic; justin bice; chrysanthi stockwell; elizabeth manning; kevin kaufman.

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