Bruce and Ann McPheeters and their son Jeff strongly believe in the restorative powers of surrounding oneself in nature. So among northwestern Wisconsin’s rolling hills and prairies, where they have a family cabin, they set out to build remote vacation rental cabins that could serve as a respite for others needing rest and recuperation.
“We just started exploring kind of a radius around the family cabin and started searching for land,” Jeff said.
They found the ideal place: 140 acres of hills and prairie near Frederic, Wis., where they could build a few cabins, each distinct and separate from the others.
For one of the cabins, they envisioned a single-story, two-bedroom, Americans with Disabilities Act-friendly space. “It could be used by two couples or a family, but also if somebody wanted to come who, say, had a caretaker, there would be a bedroom where that person could stay,” Jeff said.
What transpired is a rural retreat called LongHouse, named a 2023-2024 Home of the Month winner in the Star Tribune/American Institute of Architects Minnesota residential design contest. Judges lauded SALA Architects for the Minneapolis-based firm’s surprising design decisions that also played to the natural surroundings.
The McPheeterses weren’t surprised by the accolade, noting that architect David Wagner changed how they viewed the property.
“We had in our mind where we would place the cabin,” Jeff said. “And it turns out that we didn’t build anything anywhere near where we thought we would because some of those corridors would have been north-facing and not get much light, and he also had us thinking about seasonal elements.”
Under two roofs
Wagner and his team took cues from the site’s topography and geography. They zeroed in on an area overlooking a small lake and canopied by trees, which could provide cooling during hot summer days. The spot was also surrounded by a picturesque prairie, 20 acres of former cropland that the McPheeterses, alongside Minnesota Native Landscapes, restored using 40 native plant species.