When TJ and Lauren Oshie set out to build their Minnesota summer getaway, they were looking to strike a balance—they thought it should be bright, new, energizing, but also imbued with the same warmth and familiarity of their full-time residence. It should be a place where they could host family and friends for pool outings, but also a refuge for a quiet day inside. With the help of New York designer Hilary Matt, the couple were able to get all that and more. Together the team, which included architect Murphy & Co Design and builder Hendel Homes, molded a 6,000-square-foot property into the perfect off-season home base and summer hangout for NHL veteran, his wife, and their young family.
While TJ spent his formative years in the Pacific Northwest, both the Oshies have deep ties to Minnesota. It’s where Lauren was raised and where, as a teenager, TJ moved from Seattle to play more competitive high school hockey. The couple have been spending chunks of the year in the Twin Cities area since 2015. “We have spent a lot of summers there, and you can’t beat Minnesota summers,” Lauren says. When they began building their home, they knew they wanted it to be a place that they could settle down in for years to come. At 37, TJ just completed the end of his 16th season in the pros at the Washington Capitals. As his career winds down, both he and Lauren know they’ll be spending more and more time out here. “We knew we wanted to be in the city of Edina,” he says. “It has a great golf course, and it’s a great walking neighborhood.”
A consummate homemaker, Lauren typically takes full control of the reins on interior design decisions. However, for this house, she wanted to strike the perfect note and enlisted the help of someone whose work she has long admired. “I had been following Hilary on Instagram for over six years,” Lauren says. Lauren says she was drawn to Matt’s ability to use strong, clean, neutral palettes in exciting ways. Through her company, Hillary Matt Interiors, Matt has designed chic country house hideouts and beachside retreats all over the Hamptons and the Hudson Valley. When the time came, Lauren did what any admiring millennial does: She DM’d Matt on Instagram.
Of her collaboration with the Oshies, Matt says she couldn’t think of a single point of friction. “She was the easiest client,” Matt says of Lauren. “She let us do whatever we wanted.” And what Matt and her team wanted was to make TJ and Lauren’s summer abode the envy of all Edina. “We wanted to find the kind of pieces you wouldn’t encounter in other homes,” Matt elaborates.
With Matt’s stewardship, they were able to construct a space that feels homey and approachable, while still being eye-catching and chic. There are a number of moments in the house that strike this balance like the custom-made flooring in the foyer, consisting of travertine and nero marquina marble that Matt spotted in a showroom in Paris. “I saw them and thought, Why don’t we cut them up and use them together in a checkered pattern?” Another subtle but stylish touch is the beautiful gray carpet in the living room which, it turns out, was actually a giant broadloom rug that Matt had cut down to custom size. Tucked off to the side of the living room through an almost hidden door is probably the most elegant child’s playroom you might ever encounter.