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Terrace Seating
Bluestone terraces designed by Keenan & Sveiven meander down from the home’s main floor to ground level and the family’s dock on Christmas Lake. Subtle built-in lighting illuminates the way after sunset.
More often than not, maximizing a view means maximizing the windows. But this new colonial home on Christmas Lake, in Shorewood, doesn’t give in to prevailing trends. “A lot of people with lake homes in Minnesota forego window grids to have wide-open glass, but this family really wanted the authenticity of divided-light window grids, just like you’d see on the East Coast,” builder John Kraemer says. “Even if you obscure the view a little, it’s worth it. It’s authentic.”
Divided-light Marvin windows are among dozens of details that make the home feel like it’s long been part of the landscape. From machine-cut cedar shingle roofing to copper gutters to a black charcoal granite chimney with gable steps, they create a period feel. Even the classic white-painted wood siding does its part, with clapboards closer to 10 inches in width versus today’s more common six-inch profile. “It’s more reminiscent of an older colonial,” says architectural designer Jeff Murphy, who worked closely with architect Dan Demeules on the design. “Bigger boards are one of those details you might not pick up on immediately, but when you do, you feel something about this house—that it feels really historic.”
That impression was important for the owners, who have family connections to Christmas Lake and for years lived in the property’s previous midcentury white colonial home, which their family had outgrown. “They wanted a nod to what was there before—timeless and not over the top,” Murphy says. “They wanted it to feel like it was there for generations.”
To that end, he looked to the previous theme and sketched out a variation—an asymmetrical colonial. “A lot of people think of colonials and they think of a rigid symmetrical box,” he says. “But we call this balanced asymmetry—with details and scale that create balance.” On the rear exterior, for example, a window-wrapped sunroom anchors one end, a bay bump-out the other.
The design lends itself to a comfortable, less formal feeling, starting with scale. “The massing should be kept to a human scale—it shouldn’t be very overpowering,” Murphy says. “Think about walking up to a lot of older houses. They’re comforting and lower and cozier in terms of rooflines and even interior spaces.” In this case, a welcoming front porch and entry vestibule are entirely devoid of dramatic volume. But Murphy and team took pains to prevent a feeling that’s in any way cramped. “When designing modern-day houses, you have to get a little creative to feel the rewards of taller spaces on the inside,” he says. “A lot of old houses have lower ceilings, and now people want 10-foot ceilings.”
The home, with its comfortable style and scale, borrows much of its sense of space from a linear, open plan that makes the most of natural light and views in every direction, including those toward the lake. Spaces on the main level, in fact, are never more than one room deep.
Architectural details, such as columns and beams, along with furnishings and light fixtures, define the living room, dining room, and kitchen in the open plan, and white oak flooring ensures seamless transitions. “The owners wanted a very clean look on the inside, with traditional bones but more of a modern tone in most of the fixtures and furnishings,” Murphy says.
Neutral upholstery gets pops of color from pillows and antique rugs, the latter brought from the owners’ original home. “Features like the marble tiles on the fireplace surround feel a little upscale, but the furnishings ensure that when you walk in, it feels like home,” says interior designer Kelly Perry, a longtime friend of the owners who collaborated with fellow designer Martha Dayton.
The more casual approach to the floorplan and furnishings also accommodates the owners’ lifestyle. “She [the owner] loves to cook but wanted to make sure she could be cooking with her kids and husband sitting nearby,” Perry says.
A two-sided fireplace anchors the entire living/dining/kitchen space—and departs from an interior primarily painted Benjamin Moore White Dove. Painted a high-gloss Benjamin Moore Black on the living room side, the mantel “was probably the trickiest decision we had in the whole house,” Dayton says. “But it was the right decision, because the owners didn’t want the room focused around seeing a TV.” It also complements the fireplace’s marble surround and visually connects to the kitchen island, which is painted the same color.
Another deep color—Benjamin Moore Hale Navy—covers the other side of the fireplace, in the adjacent music room. “She [the owner] really wanted a high-gloss blue mantel, but I encouraged her to paint the whole room, including all of the built-in bookcases, blue,” Perry says. “We went through probably eight blues before landing on this one.”
Glass doors flanking the fireplace keep the space visually open while allowing it to be closed off from sound when someone is practicing the piano. “That room becomes a really cool backdrop,” Murphy says. “Looking through the doors and seeing the blue bookcases in the background becomes art in itself.”
That same level of thought and attention to detail extends to all corners of the house, top to bottom. “Even when you go downstairs, the beams on the basement ceiling have cool bracket details,” Kraemer says. “A lot of people view the basement as a place to save money, but the owners wanted to do it up right and make it just as special as the rest of the house.”
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Looking into the kitchen from the living room
A pair of columns, linear chandelier, and trestle table define the otherwise open dining space, which bridges the kitchen and living room. “We tried to keep the furniture traditional, knowing we were jazzing up the light fixture,” interior designer Kelly Perry says.
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Curb Appeal
The asymmetrical colonial style is clear from the front of the home, where the Palladian window on the left side—which opens to the stairway hall—commands more presence than standard windows on the right. An enclosed breezeway connects the home to a garage outfitted with doors made by Cambek Designer Doors of River Falls, Wisconsin. “They feel like true carriage house doors,” architectural designer Jeff Murphy says. “The amount of glass on top is more common in swinging versus overhead doors.”
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Here Comes the Sun
Just off the kitchen, the sunroom has what the design team describes as a treehouse feel, ideal for two of the owners’ loves: reading and birdwatching. “These are the types of spaces people can make so big that they lose all of their coziness,” Murphy says. “The spaces like this that I remember are the ones with intimate conversations where people pull chairs close together. You don’t want to feel like you’re in a big hotel lobby.”
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Cleverly Concealed
Although the high-gloss black on the fireplace mantel may at first seem like a bold choice, the design has a surprisingly practical side: It helps hide the TV. The otherwise white walls, neutral upholstery, and colors of the antique rug and pillows provide balance, keeping the space bright.
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Kitchen
The flat-panel design of the cabinets and range hood surround blends with a backsplash of subway tile for a quiet look, allowing the high-gloss black island and oil-rubbed brass light fixtures to shine. “The kitchen is a perfect example of classic, timeless materials given a little more of a modern twist,” interior designer Martha Dayton says.
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Outside In
The terrace is steps down from the living and dining rooms.
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Outside In
A Dutch door and built-in hutch add character.
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Outside In
The kitchen’s double-hung windows open directly to a long planter, filling the view with blooms come summer.
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Charming Details
On the side porch, near the kitchen’s Dutch door, a rope-suspended swing offers a peaceful respite.
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Charming Details
The breezeway connects the home to the garage. “When people are already down at the lake, you want to get down there, too,” Murphy says. “Guests don’t have to walk around the house. They can walk right through here.”
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Rhapsody in Blue
The music room is painted Benjamin Moore Hale Navy except for the bay bump-out, where white ensures the piano stands out. “This was the one main-level room where we moved away from oil-rubbed bronze and went with brass because it worked so well with the blue,” Perry says.
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Rhapsody in Blue
The music room is painted Benjamin Moore Hale Navy except for the bay bump-out, where white ensures the piano stands out. “This was the one main-level room where we moved away from oil-rubbed bronze and went with brass because it worked so well with the blue,” Perry says.
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Open Up
A series of French doors open from the home’s main level to a bluestone terrace four steps down. “That allows the terrace furniture to be out of eyesight from main-level rooms, preserving uninterrupted views to the lake,” Murphy says.
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Suite Dreams
In the master bath, another lake view appears. “This space was designed to be a peaceful retreat, so we placed the tub in the middle of the window to enjoy the view,” Perry says.
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Lower-Level Hangout Space
The lower-level hangout space includes a small kitchen, an entertainment system, game and billiards tables, and a changing room. A wall of French doors opens to a patio and steps down to the lake.
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Suite Dreams
The owners wanted a small, cozy main-level master bedroom—a feeling the design team expressed with a four-poster bed and a cast limestone fireplace from François & Co.
Interior Design: Martha Dayton and Kelly Perry, Martha Dayton Design, 811 Glenwood Ave., Ste. 370, Mpls., 612-850-9493; marthadaytondesign.com // Architecture: Jeff Murphy and Dan Demeules, Murphy & Co., 811 Glenwood Ave., Ste. 250, Mpls., 612-470-5511, murphycodesign.com // Builder: John Kraemer, John Kraemer & Sons, 4906 Lincoln Dr., Edina, 952-935-9100, jkandsons.com // Landscape design: Keenan & Sveiven, 15119 Minnetonka Blvd., Minnetonka, 952-475-1229, kslandarch.com
