Heaven on earth 54 JUNE/JULY 2016
SPACES 55
After decades of vacationing at a lodge, a family decides to build their own corner of paradise. By Emily Gurnon PHo T o S By rick HAmmE r 56 JUNE/JULY 2016 Every summer since she was a kid, Tricia Dirks spent a week at a lodge on Potato Lake in Minnesota. That continued when she married Doug Dirks, and their three boys grew to love the place as much as they did. Our boys would say going to the lake was a highlight of the year even more than Christmas, Dirks said. So when the owners of the lodge announced that they were selling, the Dirks family decided they needed to come up with another summer retreat. Tricia and Doug had talked about building a retirement home up north. They bought a parcel of land on Upper Whitefish, one of the lakes in the Whitefish chain, in 2004. The boys didn t want to wait. Having a cabin was really important to them, Tricia Dirks
said. They said, Couldn t we have it sooner? The Spruce Moose Lodge was born. That s a quaint moniker for a 8,300-square-foot home that, with its five bedrooms, custom iron work, granite kitchen islands, a deck supported by massive stone pillars, plus an adjacent carriage house, is nothing short of spectacular. A long process Before construction It didn t all happen at once. Tricia Dirks had been collecting ideas and pictures, mentally piecing together their dream home, for a couple of decades. She and Doug built the carriage house in 2008, since they are both still working in the Twin Cities and needed to stretch out the project for budget reasons. Then, in 2011, they hired Dan Whirley and his team from RemWhirl in Crosslake to do the main house, a boathouse and the landscaping. Unlike most companies, RemWhirl manages all aspects of a project, including architecture, interior design and landscape design. They started building in 2012. The house was the final portion of the project. Even before the landscaping, what I talked about in my first meeting with Dan as we designed it was the house needed to sit on the land like it belonged there, Dirks said. How it was placed on the lot was important; the angle was important. And they wanted people to look at it and say, Is this 100 years old, or is this new? Dirks said, adding, Even the landscaping, things had to look old or classic. Whirley began the project with a new boathouse by the shore and landscaping from the water to the area where the house would be. One of the biggest challenges, he said, was the slope from lake to building area. It s difficult to navigate, he said. It becomes a dead zone between the patio and the dock, because it s just not usable. The way to make it usable for a large patio, a lawn, and a beach was terracing. But the hard part, Whirley said, was building up those levels while making it appear natural, without commercial retaining walls. No manufactured concrete here. Instead, the team used various types of stones, mostly from quarries in Montana, Whirley said. The riprap along the shore consisted of giant 3- to 4-foot granite boulders sourced nearby. Local farmers typically have an abundance of fieldstone that gets in the way of planting and damages expensive equipment. As the landscaping value of the rocks has begun to appreciate, farmers have started selling them, though some still offer them for free. 58 JUNE/JULY 2016
The boulders size was important for the project, Whirley said. There s a 15-foot rise from the water s edge to the first plateau, so using large boulders helped scale that down so that it doesn t look like it s such a height difference, he said. Eat, play, relax Between the three acres of landscaped yard and the structures, the property features entertainment spaces for everyone and every mood. Though it was built new, the 10-by-12-foot rock and wood boathouse looks as if it has been there for decades. Its utilitarian purpose as storage is clear; what s surprising is the rooftop deck that offers an expansive view of the lake. As an elevated platform 20 feet from the water s edge, it s a wonderful place to sit, Whirley said. Next to the water are a couple of Adirondack chairs on a small sandy beach. The lawn is big enough for games of football, lacrosse and hockey. In back of the house is a large flagstone patio with room for a dinner crowd. Directly above it is a deck off the second floor that runs the entire length of the house. And there s a small private patio off one of the lower level guest rooms with naturally a view of the lake. Strategically positioned throughout the yard are beds of perennials, wild grasses and bushes, along with more natural stones. The understated garden areas were designed to look like the native landscape, not too manicured, said Shannon Parenteau, the landscape department manager for RemWhirl. Close to the water, there are a lot of natural plantings, ornamental grasses, but nothing too ornamental, she said. The Dirks wanted to keep that up north feel versus a more urban-suburban Minnetonka style. It is a huge house, so you want to anchor that down to the landscaping and soften the hard edges of the home, but keep the plants easy to maintain, she said. The flowers they chose followed a white-pink-purple-lavender color scheme, rather than the warmer yellows and reds. Favorites included hydrangeas, daylilies, astilbe and hostas, along with some catmint and weigela. 60 JUNE/JULY 2016
Watching the wind As an extra touch, the RemWhirl team found a way to highlight five very special wind sculptures that Doug Dirks had bought for Tricia on her birthday, one each year for five years. The copper sculptures, made by Utah artist Lyman Whitaker, capture the wind off the lake and move in mesmerizing ways. Just watching the wind sculptures and being out in nature, we love it, Tricia Dirks said. We leave them up all winter. The Dirks children, now in their 20s and 30s, are starting to have families of their own. There are two, and soon to be three, grandchildren. Having a wonderful place where they can all gather, in both summer and winter, is everything Tricia Dirks wanted. It s our heaven on earth, she said. n Emily Gurnon is an editor with PBS NextAvenue. org and a frequent contributor to Spaces. 62 JUNE/JULY 2016 Left: The outdoor shower includes some whimsical touches.