The Client had grown up in a Close House on Shadow Lane in North Oaks, MN just North of the Twin Cities. Lisl Close had designed the house for our Office Secretary who had newly married. It was one of Lisl’s more spirited designs featuring a Living Room plunge pool, sauna, and balcony/walkway to the bedroom wing through a sun drenched two story space.

 

Later the house was bought by a couple with two young boys. I was asked to add a “bunk room” for them, enlarge the Kitchen, etc. Later still, I had call from one of the sons, all grown up and an engineer for Medtronic with his engineer wife. They had purchased a fine North Oaks site over looking a fen, not far from his parents.

 

He had a robust Program. Most unusual was his collection of racing BMWs, eight total. To house them, we needed a 40 x 100 foot Garage complete with a wash bay and pneumatics throughout.  He wanted to downplay this feature so we “buried” the Garage in the walkout Lower Level. If you looked carefully, there was a garage door off the Driveway.below the entrance Terrace and two car typical Garage.  The under ground garage had a second/back doorway that you reached by driving around the House through the Woods.

 

She requested only a small “Getaway Room” atop the home. Reached by a small swirl stair, it was where she wanted to sleep and unwind from her job of connecting heart devices during surgery, often preformed at night.

She liked to garden so we waterproofed the roof with liquid Hydrotech, a Canadian roofing system/product that remains flexible and has an impressive endurance record. We used our favorite “upside down” roofing system where the membrane (Hydrotect) is applied to the roof sheathing forming both a water shield and vapor barrier. Above it were many inches of insulation which kept the membrane protected and allowed our client to “garden” with trays of flowers and vegetables.

 

He and his friends took movies of their racing so we needed a small theater just off the special Garage for viewing. Because he wanted to downplay this hobby, the doors into the Garage were sliding with mirrors that reflected the woods just outside.  Her friends coming downstairs to sit by the fireplace on that level or stay in the guest facilities there, would have no idea what the mirrors were hiding.

 

We first met at a nearby restaurant for breakfast. I asked if they had any abstract concepts they wanted their design to incorporate. Almost in unison, they said “Symmetry”. How appropriate for two engineers! So, the house was set up with a ‘center line” with “social” spaces to the right and more “private” to the left.  That theme started with the Terraces, a formal one on the Left as you entered, informal on the other side of an Entry Hallway/Corridor linking House and two car Garage. Inside the symmetry switched sides for the rest of the house.

 

The Hallway opened up into a three story space with a window wall facing the Fen. We used large Cedar treads on the monumental stair. Irish setters were part of the Family so we inset the treads with pads of EcoSurface, ground car tire rubber flooring used in gyms and medical treatment rooms. The dogs also had their special entrance and “cleanup” room off the informal Terrace with a tiled shower and storage.

 

The rest of the “social” side had an open Kitchen and Living/Dining space with floor to ceiling glass. An interior fireplace featured a metal mesh surround by Mpls. artist Marsha ?. Another fireplace was the focus of the attached Screen Porch opening to another fire pit on the “Social Terrace”.

 

The “Informal” side