Kenwood Screen Porch

Project: Kenwood screen porch
Design team: Architect Meriwether Felt, AIA, and designer Krysta Goligoski, ASID

Firm: TreHus, 612-729-2992

Few 275-square-foot spaces involve as much design thought as this screen porch addition. “I adore spaces that are well-proportioned and well-crafted,” architect Meriwether Felt says. “The look here is a little more modern, but the joinery and detailing are definitely Craftsman. It’s clear this was added on recently, but if you stick with classic details and proportions you can pretty much work with a variety of styles.”

An intriguing mix of stone, cedar, and copper details the screen porch.

The home, a 1920s stucco cottage in Minneapolis’s Kenwood neighborhood, provided the perfect foundation for the screen porch. In typical Craftsman fashion, the new structure relies heavily on a mix of wood (primarily cedar, but with a pine ceiling and an ipe floor) and stone (Chilton stone for the bulk of the fireplace/chimney, bluestone for the mantel and the patio surface). Details subtly pay tribute to the past: The ends of the cedar rafters are cut to reveal a sophisticated scrolled shape; cedar latticework at the base matches that along the front of the adjacent porch; flashing and downspouts are made of copper that will develop a dark purple-brown patina. Even the two-inch beveled cedar siding on the chimney and fireplace wall was a concerted choice. “We wanted to play with scale a little bit here,” Felt says, “and the more kinds of detail we gave it, the more interest we gave it.”

The gas fireplace, however, wasn’t in the original plan. “But the owner said, ‘I’d love to add one,’ so we just jumped on that,” Felt says. “It makes it more livable throughout the year.” So do storm panels, stored in the garage during the summer. The owners simply press the glass into the window frames and against the screening to keep out the chills of spring and fall.

More technical touches enhance livability as well. Electrical outlets hide under what Felt calls “trap doors with springs and grommets” on the floor so the owners can easily plug in laptops and light fixtures. Low-voltage lighting fills in from overhead, where fixtures fit into spots between the rafters. Speakers—two near the fireplace and two near the table, where a flat-screen TV hangs—were similarly installed, between the rafters. “The owners wanted to use this as more than a screen porch,” Felt says. “But we still wanted to hide those things that aren’t quite so ‘porchy.’ ”

Furnishings, however, are designed for the outdoors. The Restoration Hardware sofa and chair boast cushions made of outdoor fabric. Custom-made pillows in outdoor fabrics from Sunbrella and Tommy Bahama add bits of pattern and bright color. Even the coffee table pieces—stools from Design Within Reach—are designed for use outside. Made of all-weather foam, they double to provide seating. “We wanted this to be about family time,” designer Krysta Goligoski says. “From a design perspective, it’s fun and spirited but also humble and comfortable.”

The hand-carved basswood deer head from Patina perfectly sums up that idea. “The clients found it themselves,” Goligoski says, “and it definitely is the showstopper.”