Ossawinnamakee home offers pretty view of nature
PEQUOT LAKES -- Growing up at a northern Minnesota summer lake home was part of Rich and Marit Reese's childhoods.
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They married in 1972 and moved to Chicago in 1981. They raised three children. Their hearts remained in the lake country. They bought a home on Lake Ossawinnamakee in 1989 and drove the eight and a half hours from Chicago to enjoy it a few weeks a year.
Rich and Marit Reese's kitchen features natural cherrywood cabinets. Decorative tile provides a backsplash on the wall behind the stove.
Their home was part of the Crosslake Area Historical Society's 15th annual Log Cabin and Home Tour.
Approaching retirement, the Reeses found an Ossawinnamakee point for sale in 1989 and bought it. They had a vision of nature, a lake view from every window, efficiency and a Scandinavian theme.
They restored the little cabin on the point and built a new main house, to be ready for Rich's retirement last December after many years with Jim Beam Brands World Wide. Before his career there, he had played baseball for the Minnesota Twins.
The new house has plenty of room for family heirlooms and the couple's passion for music, sports, antiques, art and books. They are happy to settle back in Minnesota.
The music balcony overlooks the living and dining rooms. Timber beams line the ceiling, and a two-sided fireplace separates the living and dining rooms.
Metal work accents for their wood frame home begin with an iron gate to the property and carry through features in the house to metal work medallions on the lakeside of their house. Light-colored stonework complements the dark wood exterior.
Inside, where wood is used on floors, ceilings and cabinetry, walls are painted light shades for contrast to keep rooms neither seeming too dark, nor too bright. Where rooms have light-colored, easy-care tiling or light carpeting on floors, then wood is used more extensively on walls.
The central living space in their home features timber beams beneath a high wood paneled ceiling. A two-sided fireplace separates the living room from the dining room. Their kitchen has natural cherry wood cabinets.
Above the kitchen is a music room balcony where they can play a variety of instruments while enjoying the lake view. A deck wraps around their four-season porch and across the front of the house.
An office area and master bedroom also are on the main level. There is a small fireplace in the master bedroom. The distinctive tile face is typical of Scandinavian fireplace styling. Hand-painted motifs decorate the walls in their master bathroom.
Guest bedrooms vary in theme from light airy Scandinavian print fabrics in reds, yellows, greens and blues on painted wood headboard beds to an up north feel in a wood paneled room with a plaid bedspread on the log bed.
The lower level has an exercise room and a large entertainment room.