Family members tried to talk Natalie and Bryce Quinn out of buying their early 1920s Mediterranean-style fixer-upper in Minneapolis.

“My dad said, ‘You don’t know how much work this will be,’ ” Natalie said.

And Dad was right, Bryce conceded. “But we bought it anyway.”

The Quinns, who had never remodeled a home before, thought it would take just a few months to repair and update the neglected home. Instead, they spent more than a year on a whole-house renovation, ultimately rebuilding a modern interior within the Old World concrete and stucco shell.

When Bryce first stepped inside the multi-level Mediterranean, he dismissed it as another DIY special they would be fools to take on.

“It was rundown, the windows were nailed shut and it hadn’t been touched in 50 years,” he said. Still, Natalie was seduced by its Mediterranean charm, especially the curved archways, vaulted-ceiling sunroom and three graceful Juliet balconies across the front.

“It had a good energy,” Natalie said. “And I felt like it really had potential.”

Bryce got on board because of the home’s great location – plus it was in their price range. In the fall of 2009, the Quinns bought the 2,800-square-foot house “as is.”

“After we closed on the house, we were handed the keys, and none of them worked,” Bryce recalled. “Not a good sign.”

They had planned on making typical cosmetic improvements – new lighting and paint and rehabbing the outdated bathrooms before they moved in. Their biggest project was remodeling the tiny servants’ kitchen, which was on another level off the living room. “If people on HGTV can do it, why couldn’t we?” said Natalie.

But when Bryce tore down plaster walls to move a bathroom, he discovered rusted leaky pipes. When they pulled up carpet, they unearthed uneven floors. Rotting windows would have to be replaced. The red metal roof had been improperly installed, and water was dripping into an upstairs room.

“We got in way over our heads,” Bryce said. “We had bought a house that needed 100 times (more) work than we wanted to do.”

The couple reassessed the home’s condition and decided to demolish all three levels of the interior, retain the concrete block and stucco shell and start from square one.

Bryce took time off from his job at his family’s business to serve as general contractor. He hired experts to hang drywall, do plumbing and lay tile. He did the demolition himself, with the help of friends.

Natalie, meanwhile, launched a blog, Quinn + Co Urban Design (quinnandcompany.blogspot.com), to document their progress and vent about the “highs and lows of construction.”

When every last wall was down, “it opened up all these possibilities,” Natalie said. “That’s when we started to have fun. We got out a ruler and drew a new floor plan.”

The Quinns decided to salvage the original staircase, and they refinished the dark oak steps as an homage to the home’s history.

The upstairs level holds two bathrooms, a guest bedroom, office and a master suite with a walk-in closet the size of a luxe dressing room. The couple meticulously chose every material and finish, from the chunky bar-style faucets to the quartz-topped walnut cabinets, which are duplicated in other rooms.

In the end, they spent about $350,000 to essentially build a brand-new house, which includes new stucco exterior and landscaping.

“In hindsight, it would have been easier to tear it down,” said Bryce. “But we were naive and wanted a challenge. Now we’re glad we saved it.”