Photos by Spacecrafting
Surrounded by trees and prairie on 34 acres of land, this home isn’t simply a house—it’s a full-on estate, a residence where a family can live forever and carry out every pursuit and venture of which they could ever dream. The sun swathes the home and illuminates the natural beauty that encircles it. Gaggles of turkeys and herds of deer leisurely cross through the property, often eating along the way.
For the busy family of four with two dogs, activity is often the order of the day around the 14,000-plus-square-foot Medina home—playing sports, hosting pool parties, watching movies in the cabana, and throwing frequent gatherings for work friends, birthday parties, and children’s sports teams. There are also those quiet moments for a family that ardently loves the outdoors.
The homeowners had specific needs for many of the interior rooms, and the exterior was no different, says Jennifer Horstman, principal interior designer of Lenox House Design. With the help of Todd Simning of ADŌR Bespoke Homes and Kristy Raasch of Alexander Design Group, the home’s exterior material choices were made, and the result is a mountain home-style wonder that fits a “classic meets current” aesthetic. With a mix of lap siding and board and batten, its airy Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore hue was chosen “because it was in the white family, but is soft and not blatantly white,” Horstman says, explaining that the shade coordinates well with the warm brown-black color found on the soffits and fascia.
Marvin windows were selected in a bronze finish, while dark bronze chimney caps top off the stone chimneys and coordinate with the metal roofing, with even the exterior lighting flaunting a similar guise. The unique gable brackets—Douglas fir full timbers in a custom stain—also steal the spotlight.
Although the visuals are stunning, they also serve as an ideal backdrop for areas where the family can have fun together—like the 60-foot-long pool surrounded by sandstone pavers; the nearby cedar pergola that punctuates the hot tub; and the outdoor kitchen, featuring Sub-Zero outdoor appliances that include a beverage fridge, dishwasher, NatureKast cabinetry, and grill with a hood. To complement the culinary feel, there’s also a countertop and full-height backsplash cut from a luxe Alaska granite.
If the family wants to get cozy, there are fireplaces alongside the outdoor kitchen and in the cabana. Both feature the same stone—a custom blend from Hedberg Home Brick + Stone that combines a stone from Montana with Fond du Lac dolomitic limestone from Wisconsin—which is also seen on the home’s exterior. Horstman says the selections make for the “perfect balance of creamy white tones, ochre-y tans, and blueish charcoals, which makes the stone a feature that marries all choices together.” Inside Outside Architecture’s Paul Kangas, who led the home’s landscape design, adds, “The masonry and stone elements of this project are a beautiful example of how a monochromatic color scheme can complement the architecture without competing for attention.”
Clearly, stone is a colossal component of the programming. Retaining walls, steps, natural flagstone walkways, pool decking, and more barely scrape the surface of the hardscape elements incorporated. “We brought in over 350 tons of pewter limestone boulders to build the retaining walls,” says Natural Landscape Minnesota Inc. Co-Owner Jim Hanson, whose team supplied the materials and manual labor to execute Kangas’ master plan. “It was fun working with all that stone. The project was somewhat like working at a resort … in the country with no real stress in the air.”
The landscaping itself was another impressive feat of both skill and strategy. “We very much wanted to avoid colors and patterns in the landscape that would detract from the home,” Kangas explains. “A wide variety of Minnesota hardy trees, shrubs, and perennials was selected and strategically placed to provide visual interest in all seasons. The scale of the project required larger groups of plantings to create flow and layers in the landscape and avoid a random planting approach.” An irrigation system for the lawn and planting beds, along with seasonal spigots, were also placed, while other defining features—from the steel fire pit and pergola to the spa enclosure and LED low-voltage outdoor lighting—were installed by Hanson’s team.
There’s even more to this project than meets the eye, including an additional garage for equipment, a tennis court, and a future barn that will coordinate with the rest of the exterior. Someday, the barn might house livestock, “as the property is quite expansive and rolling,” Horstman says. “It’s beautiful from corner to corner.”
