Subscribe at w w w.lakeandhomemagazine.com YEAR 21 / ISSUE 2
MARCH / APRIL 2020
F
FEATURE HOME
82 Lake & Home Magazine MARCH / APRIL 2020
T
he story of this beautiful northern Minnesota lake home starts with an unexpected phone call.
At the other end of the line was the homeowner’s twin sister. She enjoyed the perks of owning a lake home but yearned for a new location with more land. Her search crisscrossed lake country without finding the right fit. On one rainy-day drive, she happened upon a beautiful parcel overlooking a 1,000plus acre lake. As she dug deeper into the opportunity, she realized that she faced a dilemma.
The land, owned by an elderly widow who could no longer maintain the property, was being split by the family into two separate lots. Although they loved the site, the twin sister and her husband had hoped to preserve the acreage as one unit. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do that without jeopardizing their dream of building their ideal lakeside getaway.
listened as her sister described the situation and the attributes of the property. Would she be interested in buying the second lot? She was familiar with Minnesota’s lake country from many visits to her sister’s lake place over the years — so it was an easy decision. “I actually ended up buying the property sightunseen,” she says. “I just trusted her opinion and bought it.”
That’s when she called her sister in the southwestern U.S., in what turned out to be the first step of a life-changing journey.
Eventually, the sister made her trip north to survey her acquisition. “I thought the property was beautiful,” she says. Situated on the northwest corner of the lake and elevated from the water line, it provided spectacular views of the lake and included a rustic, but usable, 750-square-foot log cabin. “The log
At the time, the soon-to-be lake home owner had a career in local government speeding toward retirement and new opportunities. She 84 Lake & Home Magazine MARCH / APRIL 2020
cabin needed some work, but I knew it was temporary. I was buying it for the land.” As time passed, not only did the homeowner renovate the little cabin, but she converted it to a winter-hearty residence — all the while considering her options for a more significant upgrade.
The Right Time After she retired, she dabbled in several employment opportunities to keep busy, but hadn’t found something she could dig into. That’s when another call from her sister finally started the ball rolling. Her sister’s business was expanding, and she needed someone to step in and lead the new service line. She jumped at the chance and packed up and moved to Minnesota. She had already selected a location for a permanent home on the property, clear-cutting an area near the edge of the bluff where a broad curve provided an unobstructed, panoramic view of the lake. Seeing the clean sightlines from the freshly finished house pad gave her a clear idea of how she wanted her new home to fit into the landscape, and she began actively collecting design ideas and dreaming of what it would look like. Once settled in Minnesota, the time had finally come to turn those dreams into reality.
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The search for a builder began and ended at the Lake Home and Cabin Show held each February at the Minneapolis Convention Center, where the first booth she walked into was Northland Construction of Merrifield, Minn., (northlandconstructionmn.com). “For some reason, we just hit it off,” says the homeowner. “There was something about the way they communicated, something about the way they connected with my thoughts.” After visiting with many of the other builders in attendance, she ended up circling back to Northland Construction and its owner/ founder, Jeremy Johnston. Northland is a design-build firm, which offers a complete experience, encompassing development of the architecture and design elements to construction and finish. “One thing I love about Jeremy is that he’s got a vision,” she says. “He knew what I wanted — just like reading my mind in some ways!”
Getting Started The project officially began about a month later when Jeremy met with the homeowner to walk the property. This step represents one of the critical advantages homeowners get when working with a design-build firm, according to Johnston. Site conditions can influence the cost of labor or materials
on a project if the lot requires specialized approaches to construction. “The topography of the land in this instance was fairly dynamic, down to the lake,” he says. “There’s a steep slope behind the desired build site and a steep slope in front of the build site with a small bench area where the structure could be placed.” The slope on the lake side facilitated a walkout design but would prevent machinery from approaching the structure from that side. This meant that Johnston would have to come up with alternate plans for lifting materials and getting to the upper levels to work. Furthermore, the site visit allowed him to discuss how the position of the structure could affect future improvements, like a garage or a bunk house on the property. These types of concerns that can affect the design of the home may not be considered by an independent designer focused solely on the plans for the home, he notes. The meeting began in the little log cabin, where they discussed their ideas for the home. The two main concerns for the design included doing anything possible to enhance the views of the lake and avoiding typical architecture that defines Northwoods lake homes and cabins. “I lived the majority
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of my life in the Southwest, and styles there, as “Everybody comes up north for you know, are quite different than Minnesota,” the homeowner. “[Typical Northwoods the same exact reason, And that’s says design is] beautiful but just not my style. I the feeling and the view and wanted a different look, but I wanted it to fit what the lakes provide in terms in, too.” of relaxation. Keeping a very Establishing a Style homeowner describes the design simple, clean roof line allows an The approach for the house as “modern rustic.” expansive, open feel. So when you For that first meeting she had collected pictures of what she liked from are standing inside, you feel just several websites to share with Johnston. They also like you are part of the natural discussed how spaces would be used in the home. Finally, they walked the property. world around you.” Jeremy Johnston Northland Construction
“Everybody comes up north for the same exact reason,” says Johnston. “And that’s the feeling and the view and what the lakes provide in terms of relaxation.” The first consideration they discussed was the roof line. “Keeping a very simple, clean roof line allows an expansive, open feel. So when you are standing inside, you feel just like you are part of the natural world around you.” The single-sloped roof they discussed would satisfy the homeowner’s desire for a silhouette that contrasted with the steep-pitched, cedar-wrapped A-frames and chalet-style structures common to the area, while at the same time offering spaciousness and an opportunity to showcase cinematic views.
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“None of the pictures she showed us was an exact replica of the house, but each represented a feeling to the design that the particular picture exemplified,” says Johnston. “We look for the commonalities in the pictures and listen to how the client describes it. Sometimes the client doesn’t know what it is about a particular look that they like. They just feel that it is a nice look for them.” It is Northland’s job to distill this information into design guidelines for the project.
Hitting the Mark In this case, this was an easy task. “She’s a great initial communicator,” says Johnston. “And on our end, our designer has the phenomenal talent of being able to take someone’s thought process and express it in the plans and drawings.” In a second meeting held at Northland’s office, Johnston presented a sketch of what the home would look like. “They nailed it, as far as the overall aesthetic of what I was looking for,” she says. “They heard what I said, they listened and knew exactly what I was saying and then they put it on paper and they hit it!”
“In the Southwest there is so much outdoor living, you don’t spend a lot of time indoors,” she says. “If it’s nice out, you’re outside.” Before moving to Minnesota, her home had a large outdoor living area with a pool and areas to relax, grill and entertain. “I knew I couldn’t have exactly that here, but I wanted as much indoor-outdoor living as we could fit within our budget. So, even if we can’t be outside, you have the feeling of being outside.”
Although the footprint wasn’t going to be huge, she wanted a free-flowing feeling to the floorplan. “I wanted it to be open, almost loft-like with high ceilings,” she says. “So even if the room isn’t huge, it feels bigger.” The single-sloped roof created that space, while at the same time providing an oversized wall facing the lake with plenty of room for a double row of windows across the house. By offsetting the great room by a few feet toward the lake, the design allowed for windows to wrap around the corners of the room. This created a dramatic, almost panoramic vista overlooking the lake. Even the side walls could accommodate transom windows, which added to the generous amount of natural light entering the home and enhanced its feeling of openness. The simple floor plan matched the vision perfectly. The great room incorporates the kitchen and to the right side of the home lies a small bath and the master suite. The lower level mirrors the main floor with a large, open space flanked by a pair of bedrooms and another small bath. The initial drawing was so close to the original vision, there were only a few changes to the overall design. The plans called for a sizable patio slab in front of the walkout on the lower level and only a small deck off the master bedroom overlooking it. “I think it’s a beautiful concept to have a deck off the bedroom
where you can enjoy a cup of coffee,” she says. “But I want to be on the barbecue. I want to sit and talk with friends. I want a big enough deck where we can hang out, and I don’t want to walk through the living room with food to get to the barbecue.” The issue was solved by adding a second deck off the kitchen, which allowed for a patio door and the benefit of additional glass in the space. The second deck also made access to the original deck from the great room unnecessary, and so that door was replaced with stacked windows to match the lake side of the room.
The Making of Modern Rustic After determining the design aspects to enhance the view and the home’s open feel, several interior design features played significant roles in achieving the homeowner’s interpretation of modern rustic styling. These aspects begin with creation of clean lines. One flooring was used throughout the house. A weathered, gray woodgrain pattern for the luxury vinyl planking was chosen that complemented the medium gray selected for the walls. “I said, ‘I don’t want any carpet,’” she recalls. “It’s going to be wood on the stairs and then some type of really durable flooring everywhere else.”
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“She has a talent for being able to select products and colorings that complement her place exceptionally well,” says Johnston. “So, we didn’t have to steer her in a different direction much.” The luxury vinyl planking she selected has become popular in lake homes because of its ability to stand up to abuse from pets, sand and water. “It handles the daily living of lake home use but gives us that look of real wood we are after — in this instance, a gray reclaimed-wood tone that would be a little more difficult to find in an actual wood flooring.” Likewise, the wood ceiling employed a modern edge, optimized to accent the rustic design features. Johnston explains that the nickel-spaced tongue-and-groove planking used for the ceiling differs from the traditional style in the way it is milled. The traditional planking has angled grooves, whereas the nickel-spaced has 90-degree grooves spaced at the approximate width of a nickel. “This course of design fits our modern look better than something with a chamfered edge,” he says. White paint brightens the space and creates a smooth appearance. This provides contrast to the darker, rugged, circlesawn beams accenting the ceiling. “That is a blend of the modern and the rustic in that element. The opposing color to the ceiling makes those pop a bit more.”
Where the Magic Happens The circle-sawn pine beams also influenced the inspiration for the kitchen design. Cabinetmaker Michael Brenny of Alder Creek Custom Cabinets out of Merrifield, Minn., won the task of fulfilling her vision. Remaining true to her free and airy aesthetic, she decided to forgo upper cabinets, instead choosing open shelving in most of the room. It was the island, however, that turned into the signature feature of the home. She recalls that the original design created an open area large enough for a small table and chairs adjacent to the kitchen, which didn’t mesh with her plans. “I wanted the biggest island we could possibly fit in the space,” she says. 90 Lake & Home Magazine MARCH / APRIL 2020
“The cabinet guy is amazing. Not only does he do wonderful work, but he listens really well, too.” Aside from the pure size of the island, which would house beverage and wine chillers as well as the microwave, she also wanted the feature to stand out. She mentioned her love of backlighting and a desire for some black-and-white contrast in describing her ideal kitchen: “I want simplicity, I want clean lines, I want it to be lit and I want it to be unique and different but look more open.” That was enough for Brenny. He came back with painted cabinets in a soft black finish and a vertical pantry cabinet that, paired with the refrigerator on the opposite end of the room, balances the space and frames the open shelving. He crafted the shelves from live-edged, circle-sawn lumber and inset LED lighting underneath that could shift color and intensity to set the mood.
The island he designed contrasts the cabinets, using the same rustic, circlesawn pine seen in the ceiling beams. An expansive white countertop from Capital Granite in St. Cloud, (capitalgranite.com) caps the feature, while underneath, the rugged-wood doors feature metal, diamond-patterned inset panels backlit with the same LED lighting used in the open shelving. The circle-sawn pine also shows up in the fireplace mantel across the room. “He did an outstanding job,” she says.
CouLDn’t have done it without: Northland Construction
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Completing the Job
Other notable features in the house include the shower in the master bath, which is lined with sheets of a composite material that blends the clean lines of a molded enclosure with the feel of porcelain. A window is also partially enclosed by the shower, which Johnston explains as needing particular care in choice of materials, but also attention to detail in finish, as any flat surfaces would need to be canted slightly to shed water.
Rodman Construction
At the homeowner’s request, side windows in the bedrooms were converted to transoms. This change allows space for headboards, while still flooding the room with natural light. And stonework from All Stone Solutions out of Butternut, Wisc., anchored by a distinctive single-stone hearth, rises from floor to ceiling on the lake side of the great room; a dramatic vertical counterpoint to the horizontal flow of the windows. “The antlers on the fireplace actually came with the log cabin,” she says. “When we decided to bring them down from the cabin and put them as a feature on the fireplace, I thought it made a pretty big statement.”
E.P. Construction
Together, these elements formed a cohesive design that embodied the rhythm of the homeowner’s lifestyle patterns and the desired aesthetic. “I think the three biggest compliments we get are the view, the island and something about the style,” says the homeowner. “For me, it’s still the view. I walk in and it’s just like: ‘Wow, this is awesome!’” ~L&H
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“I think the three biggest compliments we get are the view, the island and something about the style. For me, it’s still the view. I walk in and it’s just like: ‘Wow, this is awesome!’” Homeowner
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