Photography Spacecrafting/Rob Grosse
Before embarking on her interior design plans for a cabin in Grand Marais, Lucy Penfield, founder and principal of Lucy Interiors, walked the shore of Lake Superior for hours. Along the way she collected agates with deep garnet bands and rusty brown pine needles, finding her muse in the views of evergreen trees among slate gray rock. The North Shore itself would become her palette.
Connectedness with nature—and with each other—were her clients’ priorities. They wanted a technology-free, no-frills retreat where they could live closely together as a family. So throughout the design process, togetherness was top of mind for Penfield and her collaborators, architect Colby Mattson of Charlie & Co Design and his design associate, Patrick English, along with builder Greg Jurvakainen of L. Cramer Builders.
The bay window in “the gathering room” is a prime example of what family life is like at the cabin. “They all pile up in that window seat, with the downy bed and they can snuggle by the wood stove,” says Penfield. This deep window with plush cushions and pillows provides a place to read or nap in good company, while the surrounding glass windows give the sense of being right on the shore, close to nature.
The main floor, open yet compact, is centered around family life. They treat the dining room table as a craft table, painting rocks and driftwood, and the green-paneled sunroom holds family heirlooms, like the table and chairs made from wine barrels which they use for games and puzzles, that belonged to the owners’ grandfather—the original owner of the property where the new cabin sits.
Through their material and color palettes, Penfield and Mattson echoed the North Shore throughout their design, and were inspired by Grand Marais’ iconic locales, including the Naniboujou Lodge. Rustic elements are blended with modern, Nordic design touches, like clean visual lines and white oak juxtaposed with reclaimed timber, and interwoven with design flourishes that reference the architectural history of the North Shore.
“The pocket door between the hallway and the sunroom has a chevron pattern,” Mattson says, that resembles a feather found at the site. And the stair newel was designed as an homage to famous North Shore architect Edwin Lundie’s carved posts.
Soulful details characterize this cabin and establish it as a place that is in touch with family life, local history, and the natural world.
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