North Shore Retreat sits above Lake Superior in Two Harbors, Minnesota, where its long gabled wings stretch across a meadow of native grasses. Strand Design kept the house low and settled into the landscape with a restrained palette of board-formed concrete, cedar and a standing-seam roof.
Inside, tall glazing and warm wood ceilings open the kitchen, dining and living areas to the lake. Outside, covered porches, a dining deck, a hot tub and a fire pit step down toward the water, and an open-air room is anchored by a concrete fireplace, so daily life moves easily between inside and out.
The house is built for gathering. The lower level holds a lounge, a game room and an indoor sport court tucked under a gable, giving the family and their guests somewhere to go in every season and in any weather. Bedrooms and baths look out over the lake and the meadow. The landscape, by NELO, lets the native grasses run right up to the house, so the building reads as part of the shoreline rather than an object placed on it.
