Houzz Tour: Nordic Nods and Heirlooms in a Minnesota Lake House
A reclaimed family cottage finds new life in a luxurious lakeside home for empty nesters and their extended clan
When a pair of Minnesota empty nesters set out to build on an idyllic lakeside property that the husband’s aunt had owned for more than 80 years, they opted to remove a small on-site cottage and repurpose many of its elements, from the shutters and kitchen cabinets down to the wooden floor. They also seized the opportunity to showcase their vast collection of heirlooms, art and collected antiques.
The result is a custom-built house steeped in the family’s Norwegian heritage that offers modern comforts yet retains a traditional cottage charm. “We really tried to [make] it feel like the cottage was still alive inside the home,” says interior designer Jennifer Horstman, owner of Lenox House Design, who spent a year and a half working with the owners to realize their vision.
The result is a custom-built house steeped in the family’s Norwegian heritage that offers modern comforts yet retains a traditional cottage charm. “We really tried to [make] it feel like the cottage was still alive inside the home,” says interior designer Jennifer Horstman, owner of Lenox House Design, who spent a year and a half working with the owners to realize their vision.
A door painted in Sherwin-Williams Show Stopper opens into the home’s foyer, which is softened by an antique rug and illuminated by a glass bell jar light fixture from Visual Comfort. A stairwell boasts a custom rug runner and a railing with custom balusters made to evoke boat paddles. “We wanted to make it a bit more modern feeling, so the paddles are flat rather than having any contour,” Horstman says.
Nearly every room in the house has views of the lake, including the expansive great room just off the foyer, which flows from the living room through the dining room to the kitchen. Horstman credits Mattson for creating “human-sized” spaces that make the grand home feel cozy. “Each space feels comfortable because, even though we have tall ceilings, we’re dropping beams, we’re adding layers of trim, we’re giving your eyes texture to look at [and] spaces to land,” she says.
The custom furnishings were designed by Lenox House Design and upholstered in shades of blue and green, which, along with red and yellow accents, help marry the home’s lake, cottage and Nordic themes.
The custom furnishings were designed by Lenox House Design and upholstered in shades of blue and green, which, along with red and yellow accents, help marry the home’s lake, cottage and Nordic themes.
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Stones hand-selected from a local stone yard face the living room’s fireplace, which has a limestone mantel and hearth.
Ramsey, the homeowners’ 12-year-old rescued Rhodesian Ridgeback, lies on a custom area rug atop 5-inch white oak floors.
Ramsey, the homeowners’ 12-year-old rescued Rhodesian Ridgeback, lies on a custom area rug atop 5-inch white oak floors.
Standing off the great room is an antique clock made in Minnesota that was a wedding gift from the wife’s father. “She had an entire catalog folder of where every [antique and heirloom] piece was going to go and the lineage and the history behind all of it,” Horstman says of the homeowner, an avid collector. “She actually did her own floor plans to scale with little pieces on her own floor plan, to be able to tell me where she wanted things.”
Inspiration for the blue-and-white kitchen came from five antique, hand-painted Quimper tiles, now installed in the backsplash above the range, that belonged to the wife’s mother. The homeowner’s collection of antique copper pieces inspired copper finishes in the lighting, the hood panels and the rub-through on the bronze cabinet hardware.
To the left, just out of view here and looking out to the lake, is a breakfast room with a table and chairs for casual dining. This photo was taken from the vantage point of the more formal dining area within the open-concept space.
Island and window trim paint: Dress Blues, Sherwin-Williams
To the left, just out of view here and looking out to the lake, is a breakfast room with a table and chairs for casual dining. This photo was taken from the vantage point of the more formal dining area within the open-concept space.
Island and window trim paint: Dress Blues, Sherwin-Williams
Horstman and the wife worked together closely throughout the design and build process, using Houzz ideabooks to find and share inspiration images. “We looked at a lot of kitchens and how people had really great pullouts [and] fun pantries,” Horstman says. Turned finials add detail to the quartz-topped island, which has a bookcase at one end and hidden storage at the other.
In the dining area, a buffet area’s backsplash features new, smaller versions of the Quimper tiles, which the client ordered from the original manufacturer in France when the larger antique versions were no longer available. Above, lit glass-fronted cabinets showcase the client’s collection of blown glass stemware. A pass-through granite-topped bar with a wine fridge separates the dining area and a hallway.
Adjacent to the main kitchen, a custom support kitchen has white oak butcher block countertops, a cast iron undermount sink with a bridge faucet and a Dutch door. ("She’s always wanted [one],” Horstman says.) Consistent with the custom cabinetry throughout the house, the lower cabinets have Shaker-style doors. The blue-and-white tile backsplash coordinates with the antique hand-painted dishes collected by the homeowner.
The scalloping around the top of the cabinets — a detail repeated throughout the home — was patterned after the scalloping along the roofline of the property’s original cottage and is edged in blue paint. The upper cabinets were reclaimed windows from the structure and retain their original pine finish on their fronts. When the cabinets open, the blue paint from the original exterior of the cottage is visible on the back.
Dutch door paint: Show Stopper, Sherwin-Williams
The scalloping around the top of the cabinets — a detail repeated throughout the home — was patterned after the scalloping along the roofline of the property’s original cottage and is edged in blue paint. The upper cabinets were reclaimed windows from the structure and retain their original pine finish on their fronts. When the cabinets open, the blue paint from the original exterior of the cottage is visible on the back.
Dutch door paint: Show Stopper, Sherwin-Williams
The Spoonflower wallpaper in the custom laundry room features Rhodesian Ridgebacks, an homage to the owners’ beloved pup. The perky paper adds whimsy to a practical room equipped with drying racks, floating shelves for doggy treats and a tile floor.
An entry hallway connecting the laundry room and garage serves as a mudroom with a cushioned built-in bench, cubbies and hanging space with vertical shiplap paneling. A clever nautical detail: Chrome boat cleats serve as coat hooks.
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Shop Houzz for wall hooks
Off the same hallway, in a small powder bath wallpapered in a lattice print, Horstman paired an antique wash-basin stand from a local antique store with a tall faucet, a vessel sink and a mirror from the cottage. The hand-painted flower vases flanking the mirror are from France and match the kitchen tiles.
Mirror and basin paint: Dress Blues, Sherwin-Williams
Mirror and basin paint: Dress Blues, Sherwin-Williams
In their first-floor primary suite, which is appointed with Lenox House Design custom furnishings, the clients have a view of the property and lake from the bed. (Just a glimpse of the room’s sitting area is visible in this photo.) Hunter Douglas battery-operated shades blend into the surrounding window molding and horizontal shiplap.
Side wall paint: French Toile and shiplap wall paint: White Dove, both Benjamin Moore
Side wall paint: French Toile and shiplap wall paint: White Dove, both Benjamin Moore
The primary bathroom features a heated tile floor, a standalone tub with a deck-mounted faucet and a blue-and-white-printed Roman shade. The glass-enclosed shower has soft blue handmade ceramic wall tile. Nearly invisible in this photo are the shower’s built-in bench and an arabesque tile detail around the plumbing fixtures.
Opposite the tub, White River granite tops a custom double vanity with crystal knobs from Emtek. Adjacent are a separate toilet room and a large walk-in closet with its own island.
Vanity paint: Andes Summit, Benjamin Moore
Vanity paint: Andes Summit, Benjamin Moore
At the top of the stairs, Mattson created a custom niche to fit cabinets reclaimed from the original cottage’s kitchen. Featuring traditional Scandinavian decorative rose-painting, or rosemaling, the cabinets were updated only by refreshing the frame with a custom-match paint and adding a new alder wood top to replace 80-year-old laminate.
The husband’s office is an ode to his family’s history on the property. The French doors leading into the room once separated the original cottage’s interior from a porch overlooking the lake. The Douglas fir wood floor (echoed by the vaulted ceiling’s stained alder beams) was also reclaimed from the cottage.
The stove, which was made in Excelsior, Minnesota, in the early 20th century, was once the only heating element in the cottage; while merely decorative now, it still adds a warm feel to the room. The homeowner’s uncle handcrafted all of the furniture for the old cottage.
Wall paint: Shiitake, Sherwin-Williams
The stove, which was made in Excelsior, Minnesota, in the early 20th century, was once the only heating element in the cottage; while merely decorative now, it still adds a warm feel to the room. The homeowner’s uncle handcrafted all of the furniture for the old cottage.
Wall paint: Shiitake, Sherwin-Williams
This loft space has a game table (with the cottage’s hallmark scalloping), built-in bookcases and a window seat with a full queen mattress to accommodate overflow overnight guests. But it’s the Norwegian loom, which the homeowner’s aunt used in the old cottage, that commands the room. “The weaving that is on the loom now is the last one that she was working on,” Horstman says.
A cozy upstairs guest room, used by the homeowner’s son and his spouse when they visit from the East Coast, features wall-to-wall carpeting and a soft teal-and-coral color scheme. A window seat is a sweet perch for admiring lake views.
Wall paint: Fog Mist, Benjamin Moore
Wall paint: Fog Mist, Benjamin Moore
An ensuite bathroom showcases a generous double vanity painted in sage green, topped with Fantasy Brown marble and accented with chrome plumbing fixtures and cabinet hardware. Because the bathroom is tucked under the home’s eaves, the ceilings are sloped, which led to asymmetrical mirrors and vanity sconces.
Vanity paint: Sage Wisdom, Benjamin Moore; wall paint: Shiitake, Sherwin-Williams
Vanity paint: Sage Wisdom, Benjamin Moore; wall paint: Shiitake, Sherwin-Williams
The sloped ceilings also made it tricky to fit in a coordinating shower that offered sufficient headspace, Horstman says, but she made it work — and beautifully so. A soft green rectangular wall tile set in a brick pattern coordinates with a light mint penny round tile on the floor, and a small rustic stool adds an earthy element.
A second upstairs guest bedroom is often used by the owners’ daughter (an artist who painted many of the pieces in the house) when she visits from Wisconsin. Its window seat, outfitted with a custom seat cushion and patterned pillows, also offers views of the lake.
Wall paint: Samovar Silver, Sherwin-Williams
Wall paint: Samovar Silver, Sherwin-Williams
In the coordinating bathroom’s shower, glazed ceramic subway tile accents a larger-format soft blue textured tile. Imperial Danby Marble tops a built-in double vanity.
Vanity paint: Samovar Silver, Sherwin-Williams
Vanity paint: Samovar Silver, Sherwin-Williams
Two floors down, at the end of a hallway that accesses two additional guest rooms, is a family treasure: a set of three oil landscape paintings featuring the original cottage during different seasons, painted by the husband’s aunt. Horstman repurposed a winter shutter from the cottage to frame them. “If you scroll into them, you can kind of see the scalloping and the roof line and the windows and the blue door,” she says.
A lower lake-level guest bedroom features foliage wallpaper and spruced-up wicker furniture from the homeowners’ previous home. Lying in bed, guests can look straight out to the lake.
Wall Paint: French Toile, Benjamin Moore
Wall Paint: French Toile, Benjamin Moore
An antique sink basin stand used in the property’s original cottage, now painted in a soft blue, serves as a vanity for a vessel sink in a lower-level bathroom. A small round mirror above it was also original to the cottage. White floors and walls help the windowless room look light and bright, and jaunty nautical stripes line the blue-tiled tub walls.
Another lower-level bedroom, nicknamed “the cottage room,” evokes the original structure’s screened sleeping porch. Its scalloping detail mimics the trim on the cottage’s eaves; the shiplap wall behind the headboards was inspired by its board-and-batten siding; and the headboards are made out of its wall paneling. Even the mirror was made from an original window. Not seen in the pictures are two additional single beds; in total, the room sleeps six comfortably.
A custom home bar that looks like it motored in from the lake and dropped anchor — a surprise birthday gift from the wife to the husband, who loves Chris-Craft boats — makes a big splash in the lower-level family room. Horstman’s cabinet maker built the “boat,” a painter stained it and applied a shiny yacht finish, and then a local craftsman custom-made counter stools that resemble boat seats. It serves as a full kitchenette, complete with a fridge, range, dishwasher and built-in bar in the far left cabinet. Inside is another surprise: a little seating area. “They will have grandchildren coming eventually, and [the wife] wanted to be able to sit a little kid in there and let them play in everything while the parents all stand around and hang out and enjoy food and beverages,” Horstman says.
To complete the effect, the wife purchased original Chris-Craft interior details on eBay, including a wheel, dials and a seat. Overlooking the boat-cum-bar is a painting by the homeowners’ daughter of a ship that twice traveled to Antarctica with her grandmother aboard. Below sits a custom sideboard with chrome boat-cleat cabinet hardware.
Continuing the bar’s theme, an old wingback chair in the light-filled room sports new Chris-Craft printed upholstery. A reclaimed-wood coffee table cut in the shape of the state of Minnesota provides a spot for a coffee mug or cocktail, and a piano off to the left invites impromptu singalongs. Above the custom-stone fireplace surround, a painted two-person logging saw hangs on wood paneling reclaimed from the original cottage on the property. Centered just below it is a faded star that hints at the cottage’s decor from way back when.
Paint: Fog Mist, Benjamin Moore
Paint: Fog Mist, Benjamin Moore
The family room opens into a screened porch that bridges the cozy interior and the backyard. It’s outfitted with an all-weather sectional and, not seen here, a round dining table and television. Water-ski sconces add a lighthearted touch.
A view of the lake-facing back of the house reveals exterior features such as a spiral staircase connecting the deck off the upstairs great room and the patio below. Adirondack chairs and a classic picnic table sit on the patio’s stone pavers.
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Shop Houzz for patio furniture
Two other buildings sit on the property, as seen in this aerial view: a guest house and a small boat shed.
The team also remodeled a small bunkhouse on the property during the new construction to create the guest house, which shares its color scheme with the main house. They removed a bedroom to allow for a new front porch. It has its own kitchen and bathroom and sleeps another four to six people, ensuring that there is plenty of space for friends, family and generations to come to enjoy a vacation at the lake.
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Bay Lake, Minnesota
Size: 6,483 square feet (602 square meters); five bedrooms, six bathrooms, plus a two-bedroom cottage and a boathouse
Designer: Jennifer Horstman, interior designer and owner of Lenox House Design
Architect: Colby Mattson of Charlie & Co. Design
Builder: Todd Simning of Adōr Homes
The homeowners tapped Horstman, architect Colby Mattson of Charlie & Co. Design and builder Todd Simning of Adōr Homes after admiring another of the trio’s projects during a luxury home tour. The couple now split their time between Minneapolis and the new lake house, roughly a two-hour drive north, where they enjoy hosting their two adult children, extended family and friends.
Set on a lot with southwestern lake exposure, the home has a relatively modest street-facing side that belies its nearly 6,500 square feet. It’s clad in vertical board and batten in the peaks and blue siding that conjures Norwegian fjords, the lake beyond and the blue-and-white exterior of the property’s original cottage. Tiny anchor cutouts in the custom shutters hint at the lake-inspired touches awaiting within.
Exterior trim paint: White Dove and siding paint: Hale Navy, both Benjamin Moore; front door paint: Show Stopper, Sherwin-Williams; custom stone blend and custom-stained cedar decking and tongue-and-groove on the porch ceiling; Marvin windows used throughout the home
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