Photos by Spacecrafting
kitchen-header
“Doug and I cook from scratch almost daily,” homeowner Lisa Tanner says. “When the kids are home or we’re hosting family, they’re often in here cooking, too.” Rift-sawn white oak cabinetry adds a soft touch with the polished concrete floors. The island has lots of easy-access drawers for cooking prep. The spherical pendants are from Allied Maker.
Stone, concrete, steel, and wood. Like a good recipe, Doug and Lisa Tanner’s Lake Minnewashta house has a simple list of high-quality ingredients. But creating this beautiful finished dish required more than one cook. A lot more. “This wouldn’t have been possible without the planning, precision, and artistry of so many craftspeople,” says Doug, who is a founding partner of custom home builder and remodeler Dovetail. He cites, by way of example, the hulking fieldstone wall that bisects the house both inside and out. Built by stonemasons from Dan McMillan Masonry, each stone was handpicked for the right size and color and then stacked one by one to achieve a balanced and beautiful composition. “It took at least 1,000 hours,” Doug says.
The couple chose this property after raising their two children in Minneapolis in older homes they remodeled. The motorized lake was part of the appeal, allowing them to enjoy water sports and host big family get-togethers, like the ones Doug remembers his grandparents having on Lake Minnetonka. They also wanted a house that would live as comfortably when it was just the two of them as it would when the kids were home.
“We get everything—views of the lake, breezes, a little shade from the exterior concrete, and a roaring fire.”
— Lisa Tanner, Homeowner
Doug tapped friends TJ Majdecki of Murphy and Co and Martha Dayton of Martha Dayton Design for help with the design. The trio has collaborated frequently over the years and developed an easy shorthand that helped this project click along. “Given how much work we have done together, we can practically finish each other’s sentences,” Dayton says.
The result is a home with generous spaces where the family can cook together and chat and play board games. There are also bedrooms for each child and guests, as well as private spaces for the couple to recharge—Lisa’s art studio and Doug’s office. And although the house includes some thrilling use of materials and gorgeous finishes, it’s not intended to be a showcase. “We built what we wanted to live in and what works for our family,” Doug says.
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soft-spot
Soft Spot
“Martha [Dayton] made this house feel cozy,” Lisa says, noting that the A. Rudin wool bouclé chairs are as comfortable as they are beautiful. Another enticing feature is the reclaimed mango wood puzzle coffee table Dayton designed with Bjorling and Grant. “No one can resist moving the pieces,” Lisa says. The metal floating staircase is by metalworker Bo Jacobsson.
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defined-moment
Defined Moment
Cabinetmaker Jon Frost made a long hallway near the front door interesting by using slat wood paneling. A 16th-century spindle-leg table sits below the mirror.
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rock-wall
Rock Wall
A two-story fieldstone wall, which took more than 1,000 hours to construct, bisects the front of the house and separates the primary and guest bedroom wings. Designer Martha Dayton tamed the voluminous space by creating an inviting landing pad under a Matthew McCormick light fixture. “With all the glass and concrete, this house could’ve been cold. By filling it with lots of texture and movement, we balanced those materials,” Dayton says. Lisa agrees. “This is the first house we’ve lived in where people don’t congregate in the kitchen. They all want to be here instead!”
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living-room
Gaucho Cloth in Phoenix Fringe: Phillip Jeffries, phillipjeffries.com
Everything, Here, All at Once
“This is a great room to watch TV. We get everything—views of the lake, breezes, a little shade from the exterior concrete, and a roaring fire,” says Lisa of the living room. The wood-burning fireplace has a niche for wood storage that can be fed from outside the house.
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house-front
Concrete Feat
The house exterior includes a long single gable, metal roof, wood siding, and concrete. “The foundation emerges out of the ground and becomes interior and exterior walls,” homeowner Doug Tanner says of the concrete walls poured on-site by Excel Concrete—a feat of craftsmanship to create openings that match exact window specifications.
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house-back
Open House
Nearly every room has a view of the lake, including the laundry room and mudroom. A garden off the back deck supplies the kitchen with fresh herbs and vegetables during the summer.
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powder-room
Prête-Moi Ta Plume: Christian Lacroix Maison, aj-maison.com
Powder plume
One of the few rooms in the house without a window is the powder room, so Dayton leaned into the mood, dressing it up with luxurious wallpaper by Christian Lacroix Maison and a one-of-a-kind custom vanity. “This piece took a village,” Martha says, noting that in addition to herself, Bo Jacobsson, Jon Frost, Jeff Biggerstaff, and Doug worked on its design and construction.
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office
Navy Blue: Fine Paints of Europe, finepaintsofeurope.com
A Fine Shine
The lustrous walls in Doug’s office area departure from the rest of the house. “We used this in a client’s home, and I thought it was really beautiful,” he says. Bathed in ultra-high-gloss navy paint, the finish bounces light while accentuating the intimate proportions of the room.
Design Details
- Square Footage: 4,500
- Architectural Style: Scandinavian midcentury-modern inspired
- Brief: A simple palette of raw materials and richly textured furnishings merge to create a casually elegant lake home.
- Builder: Dovetail, 1307 2nd Ave. N., Mpls., 612-377-3071, dovetailmn.com
- Architecture: TJ Majdecki, Murphy and Co, 235 E. Lake St., Wayzata, 612-470-5511, murphycodesign.com
- Interior Design: Martha Dayton, Martha Dayton Design, 811 Glenwood Ave., Mpls., 612-850-9493, marthadaytondesign.com
