Though recently renovated, the history of this Rochester, Minnesota home goes back over a century. “It was originally built in 1880 as a small farmhouse, originally purchased by Charles Mayo, one of the founding members of the Mayo clinic, back in 1920,” designer Melissa Oholendt tells us. “Dubbed White Gables by the Mayo family, the home was purchased and renovated by Dr. Mayo for his eldest daughter, Edith Rankin Mayo, and her new Southern surgeon husband.” As the story goes, Dr. Mayo was hopeful to keep both Edith and her husband in town, so the home was renovated to resemble a Southern Plantation. Architect Harold H. Crawford doubled the size of the home, and it would go through ownership of multiple Mayo family members before it was sold outside of the family in 1960. “Since then, only one owner has not been a physician at the Mayo clinic,” Melissa recalls. “Our clients are now the latest Mayo Clinic-centric custodians of the home.”
The homeowners are a young family of five. “Both husband and wife are in the medical field so needless to say, they are busy,” Melissa laughs. “They purchased [the house] in 2021 and have spent their years in it lovingly updating the rooms to fit their active lifestyles.” Seeking help with the main level of the home, they reached out to Melissa’s design firm, Oho Interiors. “Our work here was simple—to take the amazing bones of the home and craft a new story for this young family. The owners of the home love color and pattern and wanted to maintain the history, while making it feel fresh and new and exceedingly livable.”
First, Melissa had to define the spaces and how they’d be best used—focusing on a living area and a dining area. “There were six connected rooms that needed a healthy dose of purpose and vision brought to each space before we could dive into bringing any of them to life,” she recalls. “We’re so thankful for our client’s willingness to go down that road with us because setting those intentions and the design direction for all of the spaces was a crucial first step in creating purpose and vision for these two spaces.”
To give the connected living room a distinctive personality of its own, they painted the walls, fireplace and ceiling in showstopping Farrow & Ball’s Brinjal. They also utilized existing quirks. “Radiators can be necessary but tricky to design around, so we wanted to add a bit of functional surface space by adding a Carrara marble top with a great ogee edge to the radiator,” the designer says. “Super practical but also an incredibly economical way to add functionality.”
For furnishings, they brought in custom pieces—like the fireplace bench crafted by a local maker. “Knowing that this space would need to flex from small capacity to dinner-party size capacity, we wanted to give our clients flexible options for seating and a Colefax & Fowler pink plaid wool padded bench top brings function, while still feeling high style,” she explains. The skirted ottoman was another custom piece, while the armchair from Highland House (sourced from Rabbit Creek) is upholstered in a highly patterned textile by Lee Jofa. “It really does make the whole design and brings together all of the different tones and patterns into one epic piece,” Melissa says. The sofa is by Lee Industries, the side table is Bungalow Classic, and the ginger jar table lamp is from Oka. Underfoot, there’s a jute rug from Loloi.
In the dining room, the existing built-ins were beautiful but not particularly functional. “We tried to save them and have them repurposed but ultimately, the best approach was to remove the existing cabinetry and replace,” Melissa admits. “We maintained many of the original details but were able to give better functionality. They really became the star of the show as it gave us an opportunity to add personality and decor to a dining space, which we don’t often get to do, and showcase art & objects that they love.”
They used the clients’ existing dining table but added chairs with bespoke cushions from ZAK+FOX. And the coffered ceiling was actually built by the clients themselves. “They put in many late nights and hours into the execution and the results speak for themselves,” Melissa says. “It’s a defining design moment of the dining room, made even better because it was done by the hands of the owners.”
The project took 10 months from kick-off to completion. “They loved it,” Melissa says. “Truly gushed over it and over their experience. Even though the coffered ceiling was a big project, there was so much pride in their participation in the project and leaving a lasting legacy for the home.”
