Murphy & Co. Design

Home Improvement Professionals , Architects & Building Designers , Accessory Dwelling Units , Home Remodeling , Home Additions , Universal Design , Basement Remodeling
23 Reviews
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Murphy & Co. Design
23 Reviews

The Gatehouse

Once the site of an early 1900’s camp, this wooded site on Lake Minnetonka was the perfect setting for this humble 860 SF residence steeped in architectural history. With a myriad of reclaimed building materials and architectural antiques to use for the construction (as noted in the captions), this cottage feels as if it were taken right from the Loire Valley of France. The open plan differentiates its “rooms” with the use of ceiling beams, posts, and ceiling changes, with rooms that share spaces while being functionally efficient.

Residential Design: Murphy & Company Design
General Contractor: Ziegler Remodeling
Landscape Architecture: The Corduroy Studio
Interior Design: Owner
Photography: Susan Gilmore Photography
Country: United States
Zip Code: 55394
Detail view of gable with ‘Winged Lion’ tile inset in stone, which the owner has had for 20 years. The roof is capped with a new {aged} verdigris copper coping with ball finial detail, and the eaves are built with hand-carved wood pegs with timber lookouts.
The Gatehouse
The roofing is dog-eared slate shingles salvaged from an 1810 Pennsylvanian Barn.
The Gatehouse
The Gatehouse
The kitchen includes stainless steel counters, an antique butcher block table, wood windows with hinged screens, vintage sconces from an early 1900’s Wisconsin cabin, and vintage copper Pâté molds from France hanging on the wall beyond.
The Gatehouse
Breakfast Alcove positioned for morning light. The ‘leather sheet’ chairs are from Vermont. The rug is antique oriental. The pharmacy rack {foreground} is a vintage French piece found in Los Angeles.
The Gatehouse
The Gatehouse
Great Hall with plaster walls & oak timber ceiling beams from an 1860’s barn located in Houston County, Minnesota. The pine timbers are from an 1870’s barn in Marshfield, Minnesota.
The Gatehouse
Detail view of the Fireplace {left} with vintage pond sailer from Seattle. The rug is steer hide the owner purchased from a street vendor on a road outside of Scottsdale, Arizona. Detail view {right} of stone surround quarried from Derby, Iowa. The firebrick is Italian breadstick sourced from...
The Gatehouse
Great Hall with reclaimed flooring from an 1880’s barn in Osseo, Wisconsin. The Baker’s rack on the far wall is an antique from France that the owner has had for many years.
The Gatehouse
Detail view {left} of Bedroom doors that were purchased in France by the owner in 1993. View of Bedroom {right} with oak millwork from an 1870 tobacco barn in Winchester, Kentucky. Notice the white stuffed mouse ‘rear-end’ in the upper left – a joke the contractor left in a timber for the owner...
The Gatehouse
Exterior sitting terrace made from bricks salvaged from streets in Minneapolis. The wood lintels are reclaimed timbers, and the windows are all wood (interior & exterior) from Marvin. The vintage urn is from Jerome, Arizona.
The Gatehouse
View of Bedroom with oak millwork from an 1870 tobacco barn in Winchester, Kentucky. Notice the white stuffed mouse ‘rear-end’ in the upper left – a joke the contractor left in a timber for the owner to discover.
The Gatehouse
An antique French fireback {dated 1744} from an architectural antique supplier in Phoenix, Arizona adorns the side wall.
The Gatehouse
Detail view of the timber pegged corner window support, along with 3 houses for the woodland birds.
The Gatehouse
Side of house where an old French Orangerie window with climbing roses rests. A weeping spruce anchors the corner of the yard.
The Gatehouse
A view to the woodland pond at the rear of the house. A perfect dining setting can be found here, with the not too uncommon glimpse of a fox – hence the house’s namesake of “Fox Hollow.”
The Gatehouse
Front facade with Platteville limestone walls reclaimed from the 1889 Lake St. bridge pilings in Minneapolis. The Chimney pot was an antique the owner had found years ago.
The Gatehouse