PEPIN TOWNSHIP, Minn. — A family farm is a place of love and hard work, and LaVonne and Steve Oenning built that with their custom home near Wabasha. From sledding on the hill to watching the fireworks and hunting in the woods, their family has loved gallivanting through their 61.
55 acres that have been in Steve’s family for more than 100 years. They curated a legacy through their antique collection, too, such as a refinished lawyer’s bookcase, rocking chairs and antique end table. The antiques blend into the stories of their lives, like the sleigh once used for hauling ice or milk jugs, now a bed option for their three grandchildren.
ADVERTISEMENT “Steve would come home with an antique piece ...
what he called small. And he’d show it to me and I'd either say, ‘No, that goes in the barn.’ Or, ‘Yeah, you can bring that in the house,’” LaVonne said while looking at their Red Wing pottery displayed near the front entryway.
Their love for antiques started on many trips to Oronoco’s Gold Rush antique fair. They decided to etch their name in the antiques business with Steve lovingly restoring and refinishing pieces. His preference was the “oak wood look,” as he shared with the Post Bulletin in 2016, including mission and craftsman furniture.
They sold antiques with Grandpa’s Barn and Bluffside Antiques. Their home is also stocked with Amish furniture, which LaVonne said matched the style of the home they aimed to build. “I started mostly as a hobby,”.
