The goodbyes are worth bearing. Deb Lalley wrote these words nearly a decade ago as she recalled lifelong memories at her family’s Stuart Lake cabin (near Clitherall, about three hours north of the Twin Cities). Summers spent cooling off in the lake, fishing, and enjoying her grandma’s rhubarb sauce—and later, visits with college friends and eventually her husband, Pat, and their kids—always seemed to end on a melancholy note for Deb. But she took solace in knowing the good times in the small 1950s cabin would cycle back the next summer.
What Deb never imagined was having to say goodbye to the cabin itself. Two years ago, the couple tore down the two-bedroom structure and built a new cabin on the same land, which had been in the family since 1898. That final goodbye was too emotional for Deb to make the drive from her St. Joseph home to watch.
Initially, Deb and Pat thought they would expand the cabin to accommodate their grown kids and their families, so they met with Minneapolis architect Bryan Anderson. After a social-distanced lunch on the porch early in the pandemic, Anderson took exacting measurements to explore the possibility of a significant renovation. A too-small foundation, lack of insulation (the cabin was built for summer use), and a litany of other needed improvements ultimately made it clear that a renovation wouldn’t be efficient. And so the couple warmed to the idea of building new. “Zoom meetings with Bryan and input from our kids and their spouses helped us move from ‘goodbye’ to ‘hello,’” Deb says.
The “hello” is a modern five-bedroom lake home that can fit multiple families and be used year-round. At about 3,000 square feet, the house isn’t small. Yet Anderson’s architectural sleight of hand scales it down and ensures it isn’t pretentious. The design breaks the house into a three-story wing of bedrooms and a low-slung gathering area that, from the exterior, has a quaintness similar to the original cabin’s. A breezeway that serves as the front entry connects the two structures. “If it felt like the owners were pulling up to a suburban house, it would have lost the charm,” Anderson says.
The placement of the old furniture and keepsakes with new cabinets and countertops has made the cabin as homey and comfortable to us as the original cabin.”
—Deb Lalley, Homeowner
For Deb, the decision to build was eased by Anderson’s visit, which instilled confidence that he understood how special the place and its history were to the family. “He was able to see beyond the patched-together nature of an older place to see the uniqueness of it,” she says.
The couple also had their daughter-in-law, Twin Cities–area interior designer Stephanie Lalley, on board to collaborate with Anderson and help guide the direction of the new home. “Because it was such a tough decision for them to rebuild, we made sure to bring in elements from the original cabin,” Stephanie says. “They give us a memory of the old cabin, but with new life.”
Knotty pine planks family members salvaged from the ceiling and walls in the original cabin became cladding for walls in the primary bedroom and stairway, refreshed with white paint. An original window that had separated the living room and enclosed porch found a new home on the interior wall between the dining area and den. And the great room was designed to give a prime spot to the antique Hoosier cabinet that housed Deb’s grandma’s cooking supplies.
Two big departures are the feel and efficiency. The new home is light and airy—more Scandinavian simplicity than rustic cabin. Against white walls, furnishings and accessories from the old cabin stand out. Functionality is threaded throughout in touches such as durable luxury vinyl tile flooring and, in a walk-in pantry, floor-to-ceiling open shelving for easy access. The sleeping wing incorporates five bedrooms and three baths in a stacked footprint of only 650 square feet.
After two summers in the new home, Deb also welcomed another change: the loss of those melancholy feelings of saying goodbye since the home can be used year-round. The couple and guests can snowshoe and ski right from their front door, and they plan to host some holiday family gatherings at the lake. “We find that we enjoy it in the winter as much as the summer,” Deb says.
Design Details
- Square Footage: 3,000
- Style: Modern cabin
- Distinguishing Features: Two masses comprising a three-story compact sleeping wing and a low-slung vaulted gathering pavilion, with the forms joined by a central breezeway with lake views from the front door
Architect: Bryan Anderson, SALA Architects, 326 Hennepin Ave. E., Mpls., 612-379-3037, salaarc.com // Interior Designer: Stephanie Lalley, Liquidpink Interiors, liquidpinkinteriors.com // Builder: Scott Buchholz Construction, 218-770-0513, scottbuchholzconstruction.com