Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: New Traditional Home With Lake House Charm
A couple's full-time home on Minnesota's Green Lake offers indoor-outdoor spaces and a comfortable blend of styles
This new home on one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes is nestled into the landscape as if it’s been there for years. The couple who own it, local business owners, had originally hoped to remodel their nondescript 1970s house on Green Lake, but after meeting with some pros, they decided that building a new house was the way to create the best place to meet their needs. Now they have a beautiful full-time home that has the comfortable feeling of a vacation house.
“Because the lot was narrow, you go right up to the garage from the street, which is not my favorite,” designer Colby Mattson says. “But we were able to turn this into a fun little piece, adding a screened-in porch and deck on top of the garage.”
There’s a gas fireplace in the screened-in porch, which sits next to a hot tub. One advantage of locating the deck here is that it’s protected from the winds that blow in off the lake.
Because there’s water on two sides of the property, both the front deck area and the back side of the house have lake views. (The house is the one lit up like a lantern in this photo.)
A look inside the second-story screened-in porch, which has a vaulted knotty pine ceiling and a stone surround on the fireplace. Although this is the owners’ full-time home, it has many elements that give it a vacation house feel, something the couple’s adult children love when they visit.
The house is covered in toned-down green-stained cedar boards and shingles that blend in with the landscape. “We wanted something that looked weathered, that would make the house look like it had been here awhile,” Mattson says. “It was also important to the homeowners that the house feel nestled in and not stand out along the lake.”
Because there was an existing boathouse, the homeowners were allowed to rebuild one on its footprint, a fun bonus they designed with future grandchildren in mind. The small patio next to the flagpole was already there as well.
Because there was an existing boathouse, the homeowners were allowed to rebuild one on its footprint, a fun bonus they designed with future grandchildren in mind. The small patio next to the flagpole was already there as well.
Back at the main house, one walks from the driveway past a casual mudroom entry to this main entry. An overhang provides protection from the weather and helps break up the exterior mass. The way the family room juts out to the right of the entry also breaks up the long facade and lends a sense of scale. In addition, using board planks on the first floor and cedar shake shingles on the second helps break things up and add character. A stone base anchors the home into the ground; it’s topped with a limestone cap.
The architects kept the roof eaves low and tucked the second story into the roofline. This keeps the home from looking too tall or out of scale with the neighborhood, which is split between seasonal cabins and larger year-round homes.
The architects kept the roof eaves low and tucked the second story into the roofline. This keeps the home from looking too tall or out of scale with the neighborhood, which is split between seasonal cabins and larger year-round homes.
Mattson chose the north side of the house for the entry so the large public spaces could enjoy southern light. “It was a choice between wowing with a view from the entry, which doesn’t last for long, or giving it to the rooms where they would enjoy it,” he says.
One of the challenges the firm often faces is seamlessly adapting traditional architecture to today’s popular open-plan living. The architects gave a lot of thought to creating cohesiveness between the exterior and interior styles.
In the main open area, which includes the family room, kitchen and dining area, elements such as big beams of reclaimed Douglas fir and different ceiling treatments help differentiate and define the three separate spaces within an open plan. The designers also avoided the typical layout of kitchen, dining area, living room all in a row. Instead, they put the dining room at the other end of the kitchen and extended the living space out to an outdoor covered porch.
In the family room, the focal point is the stone fireplace, and the room is defined by a knotty pine ceiling. The ceiling adds a rustic lake house touch. The fireplace is a Rumford, which is shallow and really throws out the heat.
Ceiling fan: Haiku, Big Ass Fans
In the main open area, which includes the family room, kitchen and dining area, elements such as big beams of reclaimed Douglas fir and different ceiling treatments help differentiate and define the three separate spaces within an open plan. The designers also avoided the typical layout of kitchen, dining area, living room all in a row. Instead, they put the dining room at the other end of the kitchen and extended the living space out to an outdoor covered porch.
In the family room, the focal point is the stone fireplace, and the room is defined by a knotty pine ceiling. The ceiling adds a rustic lake house touch. The fireplace is a Rumford, which is shallow and really throws out the heat.
Ceiling fan: Haiku, Big Ass Fans
The fireplace is flanked by a cozy window seat on one side and built-ins that house the TV on the other. “We think a lot about framing the views,” Mattson says. The windows on the left look out across the neighbor’s yard to the lake, while the built-ins provide privacy from the house next door. (By the way, cushions for the window seat are on the way; they hadn’t yet been completed at the time of the photo shoot.)
The family room opens wide to a 12-by-12-foot covered deck, which features a fire pit. “The porch adds more relief on the exterior, preventing the house from looking like a long box, and you can catch a glimpse of the view right through the corner as you approach it from the side,” Mattson says.
Carving out the covered deck allowed the dining space to have windows on three sides. This gives it the feeling of a former screened-in porch, like you’d see on an older lake cabin. All of the windows are Minnesota-made by Marvin.
“Dining rooms are great to place in front of a view because the furniture is low and you can see over it,” Mattson says.
Chandelier: D’Angelo 40-inch wrought iron with rectangular fringe crystal
“Dining rooms are great to place in front of a view because the furniture is low and you can see over it,” Mattson says.
Chandelier: D’Angelo 40-inch wrought iron with rectangular fringe crystal
In the kitchen, a large island divides the work area from the family room. The cabinets are made of wood reclaimed from oak pallets and the island top is butcher block. “We don’t typically mix this many different woods, but in here it just works,” Mattson says. “Stonefield Construction was amazing at pulling great samples for the homeowners and sourcing these materials.”
The refrigerator is hidden behind matching reclaimed oak pallet wood panels. The door to the right of the refrigerator leads to a pantry and an office that serves as command central for the home.
Vent hood: custom
Vent hood: custom
The staircase has Douglas fir posts and wrought iron spindles, which add character. The landing is in a bay that juts off the south side of the home, again breaking up a long side facade. (You can catch a glimpse of it in the third photo.) To the left, you can see down the hallway to the screened-in porch over the garage.
The second-floor master bedroom has the prime view. The architects installed a full bathroom downstairs next to a TV den that could easily be transformed into a master should the couple ever want to switch to first-floor living.
“The homeowners are not air conditioning people; they like to enjoy the breeze and use ceiling fans,” Mattson says. The design created cross-ventilation wherever possible.
The transom window is another interior-exterior element and breaks up what might have been a giant “forehead” on the exterior of the house. The inside benefits from the extra natural light.
“The homeowners are not air conditioning people; they like to enjoy the breeze and use ceiling fans,” Mattson says. The design created cross-ventilation wherever possible.
The transom window is another interior-exterior element and breaks up what might have been a giant “forehead” on the exterior of the house. The inside benefits from the extra natural light.
In the master bathroom, the architects made another exterior-interior connection, adding a stone veneer on the wall where the chimney is located and extending it around the window.
“The homeowners made all of these selections and they did a really great job,” Mattson says of the bathroom tiles and fixtures. River rock tile in the shower adds a nice feeling underfoot.
I couldn’t wrap this story up without giving you a peek inside the cozy boathouse. I wonder if the homeowners would want someone to come house-sit here until they’re grandparents?
See more of the boathouse
Browse more homes by style:
Small Homes | Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
See more of the boathouse
Browse more homes by style:
Small Homes | Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple whose children have moved out
Location: Spicer, Minnesota
Size: 3,850 square feet (358 square meters); four bedrooms, three bathrooms
Designer: Charlie & Co. Design
During the design process, the architects carefully considered several elements: the narrow lot, the setback requirements, the light, the views and the effect the home would have on the neighborhood and the lake.