Home & Design | Style Multiplier

Something was missing from the equation.

Even though Twin Cities residents Steve and Trisha London adored their idyllic Wisconsin vacation home on Balsam Lake, they sorely felt the absence of a modern kitchen—and were seriously short on elbow room for the kids, especially with their teenage years just ahead.

“We went to architect Michael Roehr and his team with the idea of adding a bunkhouse over the garage,” Trisha says. “But they came up with a much more brilliant idea: building a new structure in an area that was basically a wild garden. It changed the entire property—its form and function. Now it feels like the puzzle is complete.”

The epiphany came to Roehr when he and architect Chris Schmitt, his partner at RoehrSchmitt Architecture, first visited the home. “We got excited about the site,” Roehr says. “It’s on a bluff overlooking the lake with great oak trees and beautiful views. We thought it would be a shame not to take advantage of the vistas when adding a bunkhouse.”

Plus, an addition presented an opportunity to augment the existing home. “It was a wonderful house but, like many lake houses, was not as attractive from the roadside. It felt a little unfinished,” Roehr says. “So we designed the bunkhouse to complete the composition of the existing house.”

Built in the 1980s, the home features a series of wedge-shape shed roofs. They gave Roehr’s imagination a launchpad with just the right geometry. “We started working with another wedge-shape form in creating the bunkhouse,” he says. 

The bunkhouse “wedge” spreads the weight of living quarters across the property in a more balanced way and elevates the home’s impact with a steeply pitched roof and dark-stained wood siding. The deep charcoal hue now repeats on the existing home, creating pleasing continuity and a rich foil to the landscape’s fiery fall colors.

A new covered breezeway links the two structures and supplies both definition to the front entry and an artful “portal” to lake views. “It’s like you’re seeing through the building to the lake,” Schmitt says. “It lends a sense of mystery and expectation.”

Visual drama and delightful contrasts are integral to the architectural design and materials, outside and in. “There’s a dichotomy,” Roehr says. “Modern and minimal but warmed up with natural wood, stone, and natural light from as many directions as possible.”

Nowhere is that more evident than the sophisticated full bedroom above the four-bed kids’ bunk space. In this tree house–like nest, a soaring paneled-wood ceiling offers cabin-in-the-woods cocooning—and reflects natural light that pours in through a wall of glass stretching from floor to ceiling. “The way the room opens to light and views is quite spectacular,” Roehr says.

“It’s the best view,” Trisha agrees. “We’ve thought about moving over there and taking claim of it back from the kids. But I’m even more in love with our new kitchen in the main house.”

Before the renovation, there wasn’t a lot to love. “It was a small 1980s maroon and gray kitchen,” Trisha says. “The island top was a door from Home Depot. The whole space just stuck out, because the rest of the house had been renovated in 2015 to be more in line with contemporary living.”

RoehrSchmitt addressed the space problem first, reworking square footage behind the cooking zone to create a powder room and a walk-in pantry rife with storage. Next, the architects revamped the cooking space.

New dark-painted wood cabinetry contrasts a natural-wood island topped with marble-look quartz. Open shelves above the range bring a sense of airiness and an organic vibe echoed by the wood-paneled vent hood. Sparkling white backsplash tile reflects light to augment the bright mood.

“It’s become my favorite room in the house,” Trisha says. “I love the clean lines and the functionality. It helps us live better.”

Now, there’s room for the Londons and their friends to gather, relax, and truly enjoy life at the lake. “It’s so great for our family,” Steve says. “It was an oasis already—and Michael and his team made it even better.”

“There’s a dichotomy. Modern and minimal but warmed up with natural wood, stone, and natural light from as many directions as possible.”

—Michael Roehr, architect

Architecture and Landscaping: RoehrSchmitt Architecture, 200 Washington Ave. N., Mpls., 612-216-4191, roehrschmitt.com