Three years ago, they found a parcel overlooking Caribou Lake, which they’d kayaked and enjoyed. “The property once had a cabin, which had sat on railroad ties, but it had been removed,” he says. The Walshes weren’t looking to build anything similar. 

“I’ve always been a fan of modern architecture, and have always wanted to build something modern at an affordable price point,” he says. The cabin also had to be as low-maintenance as possible, exceptionally dog-friendly (meaning, durable and easy to clean) and built with local, sustainable materials. 

He found Sara Imhoff, owner, and principal of Imprint Architecture and Design, LLC, Minneapolis, to bring the family’s cabin idea to life. She’d worked on several LEED-certified cabins in Washington state.

“In many of those projects, we made sure, upfront, that the wood sourced was coming from a sustainable forest, a local company, or from the property itself after a windstorm,” she explains. “Sourcing materials upfront was a driver to make sure the cabin would be LEED certified. The Walshes wanted a similar approach.” 

Windows for a Modern Feel 

Siting the 900-square-foot cabin for cool breezes in the summer and maximum solar gain in the winter was another challenge. “Sara and I spent a full day up there deciding how to minimize the impact on the trees, and position the building for sun and views. She did a nice job with that.” Adds Imhoff, “We staked out the cabin three or four times.” 

“Cabins designed with a modern aesthetic are more outward-looking than traditional cabins in the woods,” she continues. “Having a connection to the environment is important in a natural setting, and large windows connect people inside the cabin with the outdoors. That grounds you as to why you’re there.”

“Now, given the way windows are made today to be energy efficient, architects can use windows to capture light and solar heat gain, and foster that connection with the outdoors—without the need for artificial sources of electricity,” she says. “Windows are a big driver in making a cabin feel more modern.” 

Walsh adds that because of the cabin’s size, large and floor-to-ceiling windows would bring in “lots of natural light from every angle, warmth from the bright winter sun, and a feeling of living outdoors.” Two operable windows downstairs, along with the screen porch, capture breezes off the lake in the summer, as do operable windows upstairs, eliminating the need for air conditioning. 

Using Every Square Inch 

The Walshes wanted to make sure “every square inch was purposefully designed to be used,” Imhoff says. “The cabin uses space to its highest potential.” The interior includes a kitchen, great room, two bedrooms, a flex space, 1.5 bathrooms, a laundry/mudroom, a mechanical room, and plenty of storage. 

The cabin incorporates Marvin Windows with sustainably sourced pine and aluminum (not vinyl composite or plastic), which are 20 percent more energy efficient than EnergyStar requirements for the North zone (if U factors were around .25) and is manufactured locally in northern Minnesota. 

The Walsh family has been enjoying the cabin since it was completed in August 2019. The open modern design, Walsh says, means “there’s nothing superfluous. We love the lake. We can’t see the other cabins and that’s part of the culture; being nestled into the woods with nothing unnecessary. We wouldn’t do anything differently. We absolutely love it.”