Home Tours 2009: Michele Tafoya and Mark Vandersall | Edina

Fall means football for ESPN/ABC Sports reporter and WCCO Radio host Michele Tafoya. But when she’s not reporting from the sidelines or doing an interview in the studio, chances are she’s at home in Edina with her family. The sports-loving Tafoya and her husband, Mark Vandersall, a financial advisor, built their home around a casual, open plan and low-maintenance materials. “We didn’t want this to be a place where we’d worry about what the kids would do,” Tafoya says. “Any space where the kids are going to be is pretty up to snuff. We’re not going to go, ‘Oh my God, they poured grape juice on the white carpet.’ We didn’t want to go in that direction.”

The couple worked closely with designer Greg Walsh of IDID inside design in Minneapolis on a scheme that serves their laid-back style and also creates a welcoming haven for friends on game day. The kitchen opens wide to the living room, where children Tyler, 3½, and Olivia, 9 months, can play while Mom and Dad make breakfast and dinner. Vandersall, who does most of the cooking, chose a cooktop with a griddle for making omelets and pancakes. Tafoya planned for a cabinet with a beverage refrigerator outside the main work zone so the kids could easily grab juiceboxes. The lower-level family room boasts similar conveniences. The bar’s microwave and small cooktop is ideal for snacks, and its glass-door refrigerator keeps cold drinks handy. An adjacent kids’ activity space features a basketball hoop and a floor covered with sport court tiles.

Finishes reinforce the relaxed feel. “We went with a lot of dark wood and terra cotta,” Tafoya says. “It has a warm, old-world feel that’s inviting. We wanted this to be a place where you could sink in and live, where you didn’t have to be perfect. We can’t live that way.”

D ark-stained knotty alder cabinets pair with Cocoa Cohiba granite countertops in the kitchen and family room. “The granite has what’s called a leathered finish and has a soft texture,” Tafoya says. “To me, it’s one of the most beautiful parts of the house.” Terra-cotta tile flooring in the kitchen gives way to stained concrete on the lower level. But the family room’s standout feature is the TV arrangement—a big screen topped with two smaller flat panels, plus one at the bar. “Our vision for fall Minnesota weekends is to have friends over to watch college or pro football on multiple screens so we can keep track of multiple games,” Tafoya says.

Finishing their home (they’re still hanging art on the walls) comfortably coincides with Tafoya’s return to Twin Cities airwaves in WCCO Radio’s popular afternoon drive-time slot. It also comes on the heels of the adoption of daughter Olivia, an experience that had Tafoya, Vandersall, and son Tyler in Colombia for seven weeks this past spring. “All of us were in one room in this little guesthouse in Bogotá, dealing with the adoption and also the fact that Olivia had a heart condition and needed surgery,” Tafoya says. “It was quite a trip, but we wouldn’t trade it for the world.”