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Mod MN Getaway
When there are architects in the family, a renovated mid-century cabin becomes a lovingly designed space where form follows function
Several times each summer, four young families scattered around Minnesota, running their own companies and their own carpools, pack up nine kids, two dogs, and swimming gear, and head up to the lake. All because Mom and Dad Rehkamp (aka Paul and Marcia) saw the benefit of having a place where three generations could gather. Except for the cramped quarters, duffle bags spilling swim goggles and comic books onto the living room floor, where some of the children camped, the Rehkamps looked forward to their time together as a family and were grateful to have a spot on Lake Carlos, just north of Alexandria.
When Minnesotans think cabin, most imagine the iconic log structure with a stone fireplace or, perhaps, a charming, lap-sided 1940s cottage with screened sleeping porches. Even the Rehkamps, whose daughter and son-in-law founded Rehkamp Larson Architects, Inc. in Minneapolis, did not imagine spending their summers in an architect-designed, mid-century modernist home. Marcia, especially, who once owned a design shop in Marshall, had visualized something ever so slightly more traditional. “Paul was ready to buy it the minute he saw it, but it took me awhile,” Marcia admits. The home sat quietly on a large, flat, grassy lot on the banks of Lake Carlos, at the tip of a triangle if Minneapolis and Marshall formed the base, allowing equal travel time for the most frequent visitors. Since location and the perfect lot can sometimes trump architectural style, Marcia finally settled in to the idea, and the Rehkamps purchased the property in 1999.
Willing to let the cabin’s secrets reveal themselves over time—as if it were the newest member of the family—the Rehkamps lived with the original 1,440 square feet until they were bursting at the seams with children and grandchildren. When the original three tiny bedrooms would no longer do, they delighted their architect daughter, Jean Rehkamp, by asking her to renovate the home with her architect husband, Mark Larson.
The project came with limitations. This was not a tear down, and there was no denying the post-and-beam construction, the concrete slab on grade, and the horizontal windows. The 1961 home, designed by J.R. Corwin, an architect with Minneapolis architecture firm Ellerbe Becket (then Ellerbe & Co.) was mid-century down to the original metal St. Charles cabinets (the same cabinetry installed in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House), which were to be retained. Jean Rehkamp describes its forms as “super compact, almost ship-like.”
“The home was really done ‘as it stood,’” Mark points out. “You couldn’t change that about it.” Both architects agreed that the cabin could hold its own in the long lineage of architectural styles that dot Minnesota lakeshores. “This, too, is a Minnesota cabin, designed by a Minnesota architect. This house was simply unaware of its own coolness. It is more of a pad,” Jean says, grinning.
Having spent so much time at the cabin as guests with their two young sons, Jean and Mark knew what they liked and disliked about the home, and what worked for the extended family and what didn’t. They all enjoyed the open floor plan while lamenting the limited sleeping space. They also knew they spent most of their free time out of doors, but this home was designed before architects made conscious use of indoor-outdoor connections. You were either in or out. There was no sense of a transitional space in-between. As well, the cabin had no presence from the road. “The door was tucked away on the side. There was no feeling of arrival,” Mark explains. A list was drawn up in short order: Create a visually strong entry, increase the connection to the outdoors, add two bedrooms (one is an owners’ suite), and improve laundry and storage features.
They also considered the aesthetic and found a way to complement the strong horizontal forms by annexing a vertical tower with a link, a total of 1,250 square feet of new space, which addressed all of the requirements. The link is book-ended with glass, so guests feel both welcomed into the home and drawn beyond to the lake, a vista through the space. The entry also functions as the drop zone. “It is the perfect place to unload your things when you arrive. There is plenty of room, and you are not crowding other people,” Jean says. The adjoining tower added two bedrooms, one on the main level and an owners’ suite on the second level. One exterior wall was removed to open up the space, but otherwise, the interior of the original home remains unchanged.
Marcia’s own more traditional furnishings style, influenced by her daughter’s architectural work, evolved to include an appreciation for modern. With the neutral walls, stone wall platform, wood-burning fireplace, and concrete floors, she was able to introduce color—which she loves—in the furnishings without overwhelming the modern sensibility. By keeping furnishings to a minimum, they become nearly sculptural in the space. Form truly follows function here. If there is not a purpose for it, you probably won’t find it in this home.
The Rehkamps have been thrilled with the result. And everyone, including the dogs, has a little more room to stretch out. “It is so surprising how much bigger it feels,” says Mark.
Jean agrees. “It is really a small house with a huge entry. We put the classic spin on it. Sometimes you don’t have to add that much to make an exponential difference.”
Alecia Stevens is a Minneapolis writer and interior designer.
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