This California couple has soccer to thank for showing them the wonders of a Minnesota summer. It began when their daughter joined the Minnesota Aurora Football Club, a pre-professional soccer league that plays games from May to July. During her first two seasons with the team, the family rented homes on Lake Minnetonka to support her during training and watch her compete. They fell hard. “We’re pretty sporty, so the lake, and especially the town and running trails of Excelsior, were a perfect fit,” says the homeowner.
The couple decided to create a seasonal home base for their family of four — which includes a hockey-playing son who often trains in Minnesota — and relatives in town to see a game and their daughter’s teammates, many of whom are from other parts of the world. “We wanted to create a welcoming spot for the team where they can enjoy the lake and the house, and get a home-cooked meal,” the homeowner explains.
Photography by Jim Kruger / Landmark
Boyer Building had remodeled one of the houses the family rented, and they liked the work. So in late 2023, when this one-and-a-half-story home came on the market with the location but not the layout or style they wanted, the couple asked John Boyer to look at it with them.
Turns out, the home belonged to Boyer’s sister. “We’d remodeled it for her about 30 years ago,” he says. Boyer knew the house well, which was a good thing, because the new owners wanted the space move-in-ready by spring 2024, when the Aurora’s spring training began.
With no time to tear down and rebuild, Boyer worked within the existing footprint to redesign the house with more open spaces for team meals and gatherings, and better indoor-outdoor flow. “We only had eight to nine months, so there wasn’t time for variance permits,” he explains. Instead, Boyer bumped out the flat roof dormers and filled in over the garage to create a near-full second story. He also enclosed the screen porch on the main floor to capture additional interior space. This creative problem-solving boosted the total square footage from 3,350 to 4,747 while staying in the same footprint.
The exterior and the interior reflect the couple’s contemporary taste and desire for California-inspired indoor-outdoor living and a hub-of-the-home kitchen with a 10-foot stone-topped island to gather around. This mammoth feature, plus the weight of the lakeside glass walls, created structural engineering challenges that Boyer addressed with new steel framing on several exterior walls and between floors.
Then there is the home’s architectural centerpiece — a floating steel and wood staircase set against a white oak slat wall (which also separates the public space from the main floor en suite bedroom and laundry). “It’s pretty cool,” Boyer says. “There’s steel within the slat walls holding the treads up.”
To keep the house quiet and energy efficient, Boyer installed triple-pane windows and various forms of insulation on just about every wall — exterior, interior and between floors. The quiet is especially appreciated in the home’s main-floor office, a fully equipped remote workspace with a desk and meeting table that simultaneously accommodates multiple family members.
The kitchen is command central for the homeowner, who can cook and socialize with family and guests, whether they’re hanging out at the island, on the deck overlooking the lake or in the adjoining family room. “From my spot behind the island, I can take it all in,” the homeowner says, “and hide all the mess in my pantry.”
A wall of walnut cabinetry conceals the pantry door and houses a team-size refrigerator, freezer and wine fridge. Two ovens and six burners offer ample cooking space. Downstairs is a comfortable hangout area with two large couches for watching movies and playing video games, a bunk room, and a patio with a hot tub and lake access. This home is well-equipped to feed the bodies and spirits of the Aurora athletes.
Natalie Talley of Talley Jane Interiors guided finishes, colors and furnishings that embrace the lake setting — including warm wood tones and light fixtures that don’t block the view.
The home has a boathouse, an extra-special feature because building new structures so close to the water has been prohibited on Lake Minnetonka since the 1970s. This one had a garage door and track system to store a single boat. Boyer kept the foundation and rebuilt it as a cozy lakeside gathering area with an adjoining patio and fire pit. A funicular (small trolley on rails), which the couple shares with the neighbors, facilitates moving coolers and piles of towels up the incline to the house. “The contractors really liked it, too,” the homeowner says.
With one summer at the home under their belt, the couple says the temptation to spend more time there during the fall and winter months is strong, but they are too busy cheering on their children in their respective college athletic careers. “This is our kids’ favorite place for sure,” the homeowner says. “We can’t wait to get back up there.”
Build: Boyer Building Corporation
Architectural Design: Boyer Building Corporation
Interior Design: Talley Jane Interiors
Read this article as it appears in the magazine.
