features

28 | Lake homes and cabins
The water draws us.

THESE STRUCTURES are far more than lake homes. They are part of our individual and family legacies, says Dale Mulfinger, a Minnesota architect and author of The Cabin, The Getaway Home and Cabinology.

Mulfinger, with SALA Architects in Minneapolis, Stillwater and Excelsior, teaches an architecture course at the University of Minnesota and writes a column, “Cabin Fever,” for Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine. When Mulfinger speaks about cabins, people listen. In fact, he has been referred to as a “cabinologist” because of his extensive studies on the subject.

Mulfinger said he once saw a beer company’s billboard that boasted not of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, but of our 285,000 cabins. No one knows whether that count is accurate, but we do know that the number of Minnesota cabins is large. Even in this time of economic down turn, Mulfinger said, people are still building and buying cabins and lake homes.

Why? Because it’s part of our culture. When our forefathers and mothers came to this state, they built crude structures to live in. These log homes were, in a way, a precursor to today’s cabins.

While the mention of cabins may bring to mind images of waves lapping against the shore, our winters play a role in how we enjoy the lakes during summer.

“We’re a very outgoing culture,” Mulfinger said. “All year long we enjoy the outdoors, whether it be skiing or snowmobiling. And when summer comes, we don’t take that time for granted.” To hear Mulfinger speak about cabins, visit the Lake Home and Cabin Show in early April at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Minnesota Moments asked some Minnesota cabin owners to share their takes on their lake places. >>

38 | Remodeled farmhouse
Civil War-era house renovated into showcase.
View Slide Show

JIM AND BRENDA ANDERSON’S home is a striking, massive hulk of a house that rises from the prairie just north of Sartell.

With its 6-foot-high windows, the house affords the Andersons the opportunity to survey their surroundings, particularly from the second floor. “I like the views, being able to look out and see forever,” Jim said.

The home’s interior seems as sprawling as the land around it. Rooms on the main floor of the 6,000-square-foot house have 10-foot ceilings and wide doorways. Bays on the front of the house face east, expanding the square footage of the dining room and parlor and letting in a lot of daylight. The bedrooms, on the second floor, are of the oversized variety favored by the large farm families that built these sorts of homes in the 1800s.

The Andersons’ house was built sometime between 1860 and 1865 by Civil War veteran Samuel Cox Johnston, brother-in-law of Joseph Sartell (for whom the nearby community was named). Jim Anderson’s research indicates that the house was a showplace in its day, attracting visitors traveling between Little Falls and St. Cloud.

However, sometime before Jim bought the place in 1990, it had fallen into disrepair. “I grew up just a half mile down the road,” Jim said. “I knew what it had been before.” Jim dreamed of restoring the house to its original glory.

Did Jim have a vision of what he wanted the house to look like? “I don’t know that I had as much of a vision at first as ignorance,” he said. In fact, not long after he moved into the crumbling house, Jim felt overwhelmed, felt that perhaps he had stuck his neck out too far. As he was struggling with those emotions, he went out to the barn and up into the haymow “and I knew it was all going to be OK.” >>

46 | Creating a backyard oasis
Ponds provide serenity.

IT ALL STARTED innocently enough.

I had a bare patch in my back yard where a sandbox used to be. I could have planted grass over it. Maybe I should have planted grass. But instead, I began to dig. And dig, and dig, and dig. My goal was to excavate a hole deep enough for a “good sized” pond.

I’ve heard people say that you’ll always wish you had made your pond bigger. So, I thought big. How about 30 feet long and 10 feet wide? That sounded like a decent size.

Then, I needed to go about 4 feet deep, I was told, so my fish could live in the pond during the winter months. This sounded reasonable as well. What’s a little more digging if you don’t have to scoop the fish out of the pond and bring them indoors when the temperatures dip below freezing?

Today, I’m the proud owner of a 30-foot-long pond complete with waterfall, fish and a ton of rock, all of which I hauled, alone, by hand.

How did I accomplish this feat? And how do you do the same?

Where to start >>

55 | Cookbook collector
New Ulm woman has more than 2,000.

New Ulm woman is crazy for cookbooks. Deb Fortwengler of New Ulm loves cookbooks. She guesses that there are more than 2,000 cookbooks in her collection.

She received her first set of Woman’s Day cookbooks from her parents as a confirmation gift in 1966. She’s been collecting ever since.

Deb said she would rather read a cookbook than a novel. All of her books are chock-full of earmarked recipes that she has either tried or wants to try. Her husband, Roger, is her “guinea pig” for her attempts.

Her favorites? Church cookbooks and Junior League cookbooks because both are full of “down-to-earth” recipes, Deb said. >>