mary jo hoffman better homes and gardens

Mary Jo Hoffman isn't shy about buying a book based on its cover. When she spotted Down the long driveway, you'll see it on a design blog, she knew she had to have it just for the title alone—that's the phrase she and her husband, Steve, often tell first-time visitors about their house. Their driveway, a dirt and gravel road, meanders along a wooded path in Shoreview until you finally reach the 1970s rambler at the end. It's here that the couple and their two kids, a puggle, and a couple of chickens call home. It's also the site of the couple's left- and right-brained businesses. Steve is an accountant and an award-winning food and wine writer, and Mary Jo, a former aerospace engineer, runs her STILL blog and creative business here when the family isn't on sabbatical in Southern France, from where they recently returned.

How do you describe your home's aesthetic?

Mary Jo Hoffman: I would describe it as Scandinavian modern. It is a style that, not surprisingly, works naturally in Minnesota. The key to Scandinavian style is not so much modern furniture design, nor a neutral or monochromatic palette; it's mostly about a respect and a reverence for light.

Have you always lived with this aesthetic?

MJH: I have not always been a minimalist. I think my attraction to minimalism has been, on one hand, a natural response to our busy mid-career, child-raising years, and on the other hand, a much needed antidote to our current overstimulated culture.

What's been inspiring you lately?

MJH: It is somewhat trendy, but right now I am fascinated by Danish hygge. In my home, it means an uncluttered environment. It also translates into using natural materials like wood, stone, and natural fibers like linen and wool. For the family, it translates into rituals like family meals most nights of the week, even if it means we're eating at 9 pm after a soccer game. And it means a ritual of lighting candles to mark the transition from the work day to family time.

Steve hoffman: For more than a year now, my biggest inspiration has been Richard Olney, a contemporary of Julia Child, James Beard, and M.F.K. Fisher, and one of Alice Waters's biggest influences. Olney was a good painter, a great cook, a true wine connoisseur, and a lyrical food writer who grew up in Iowa, moved to Paris, and eventually settled in a house on a hillside in Provence, France. There he painted, cooked, gardened, foraged, entertained, and wrote three of the most beautiful French cookbooks in the English language. He serves as a particular kind of ideal for me right now, of the good life, consciously chosen. We were able to visit his house during our recent stay in Southern France, and it was one of the more thrilling and moving experiences of my recent years.

How do you stay motivated to create?

MJH: I am pretty deliberate about keeping my creative well filled. I do the usual things, like take long walks in nature, read books about art and artists, visit museums, attend openings, and socialize with other creatives I love and admire. We haven't had a TV for more than 10 years, so we don't have to manage that distraction, but we are talking about unplugging the Internet for the better part of every day this summer. Creating takes a lot of focused attention, and we are no better than anyone else at ignoring the temptations of social media and that Weapon of Mass Distraction called the Internet.

How do you keep track of your ideas and goals?

SH: Mary Jo and I sit down regularly over dinner at a restaurant to write out five-year plans. It's the nerdiest thing ever, but it does mean that big-picture goals are usually summarized in a bullet list in one of Mary Jo's journals, occasionally stained with red wine or sauce. I also keep a list on my computer of article ideas I'd like to try to put into words when I have time. And I keep a list of funny or moving stories my tax clients have told me about food and about their lives.

MJH: I still carry a journal in my bag. I love the feeling of pen on paper. I like getting to a meeting five minutes early, and pulling out my journal and making a list, or reviewing my notes and quotes from the past several months. All my journals are the same style—they all have exposed hand-stitched Coptic binding. I fill about two journals a year. They're pretty much little works of art by the time they are all filled. I keep them all on their own bookshelf in my living room. I love looking at them.

You both refer to your home as a retreat.

MJH: We are remote. We go days without seeing a neighbor. It is like a retreat, where you go to be quiet, and focus on what matters—where the noise of civilization is distant, where the nuclear family is the central social unit, and where the path is cleared to focus and be creative.

Kelly Ryan Kegans

Kelly is a southern transplant who has been covering news and lifestyle for national, regional, and local publications for more than 25 years. She's the Home and Design Editor at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.