Pictures from Troy Thies
While Anna Achtenberg was growing up in western Wisconsin, she was eager to get away from small town life. Now, every weekend, he looks forward to returning. After living in the Twin Cities for many years with her husband, Dave, raising two children who are now adults, and wrangling twin 14-year-old boys, she says, “We realized how fast kids grow up.
My husband and I have businesses. We are very busy. We needed an escape, an escape, where the whole family can be together.”
The Achtenbergs found their dream spot on a lake in Burnett County, near where Anna grew up. The property had two small cabins, which the family enjoyed for several years. But what they didn't particularly like was the noise and intrusions from the big campsite next door. The couple wanted to expand the property and build new, so Dave negotiated with the campground owner and bought the land. Immediately after that they hired Lands End Development in Crosslake to design and build their rustic North Woods-style lake house.
Meanwhile, Anna's dream lakeside getaway featured a variety of outdoor living spaces for cooking, entertaining, family time and play, all centered around a central hub—the outdoor kitchen. After meeting with landscape contractors Southview Designhe says, “I realized what they could do for us would be stable and long-lasting, with beautiful landscaping that didn't require a lot of maintenance.”
Southview began by solving a major concern for the property: a crooked shoreline eroded by frost and boat wakes. “We addressed this issue by leveling more than 400 feet of shoreline and stabilizing it with rip-rap boulders,” says designer Mack Sutphin. Sutphin and Anna then went to work on a design for the landscape design.
Southview and Lands End ended up partnering to build the outdoor living spaces. “They are two great companies that communicated and worked together beautifully,” says Anna. The Southview team designed a central outdoor hub that constructed the Lands End under a rustic gabled roof. A pizza oven, clad in stone veneer that matches the stonework in the lake house and garage, anchors one end. The stonework also underpins the hub's horseshoe design, which Anna says allows “20 to 30 people to mill around, but not feel crowded.”
The curved horseshoe bench with comfort seats 18 via attached stools that swing out, “which is practical—Dave and I don't have to carry chairs around—and maximizes seating,” he adds. The center kitchen also includes a refrigerator, dishwasher, Traeger wood grill and island with sink. “From this center,” says Anna, “I can have a pizza, go to the barbecue, watch the jet skiers, watch the kids and hang out with our guests. It's perfect.”
Adjacent to the outdoor kitchen and terrace is a huge double-sided stone fireplace with a comfortable sofa. Adjacent to the terrace is an outdoor seating area with an awning that opens for shade. On the other side of the kitchen is the game room, which keeps guests busy with a wet bar, pool table, games and big-screen TV — not to mention a hot tub just outside. To make the backyard living areas more private, Sutphin designed a small lawn area adjacent to the game room. There, plantings screen the outdoor kitchen and center from the street.
Just below the kitchen hub, a recessed Iron Mountain stone patio with Stonebridge Ledgerock steps surrounds a 6-foot-diameter wood-burning fireplace. Bright lighting throughout the outdoor spaces can be adjusted via phone or tablet, and the irrigation system that keeps flowers and shrubs watered is Wi-Fi controlled.
Because the house and foundation were built 5 feet above the lake mark, Sutphin says, Southview incorporated a stone retaining wall that not only matches the lake setbacks, but also frames the outdoor spaces and steps to the shoreline through a manicured lawn. “We have so many different visuals, such wonderful sweets, as we walk out of the house towards the lake,” says Anna. “There's a bit of elevation with pines and rocks, then the eye travels down to the water. With all the wood and stone construction, it's just gorgeous.”
This past Christmas season, the Achtenbergs hosted a large family gathering with most of the celebration taking place outside. “We had the fire pit, the pizza oven, the people in the hot tub,” he says. “The whole space was used.”
But with summer here, the whole family is enjoying time at the lake house. “We go every weekend,” Anna says. “Friends are coming. Their friends are coming. The children are coming. It has held our family together like glue.”
