Lake Minnewashta Luxury Home For Sale

Builder John Boyer from Boyer Building meets with Paul Johnson Lakes Sotheby's International Realty to detail the construction and floor plan of the Lake Minnewashta Luxury home for sale.

"Architecturally it's designed all the way around the house. It's got a very authentic look to it."

John Boyer
Boyer Building Corporation
Minnetonka, MN
www.boyerbuilding.com

Transcript for Lake Minnewashta Luxury Home For Sale:

John Boyer: This house was built on one of the lots that we developed here in beautiful development. The long driveway goes along side of the house. There are three stalls behind. The house was designed under a Tuscany theme. So it's kind of got an Italianate look. Architecturally it's designed all the way around the house. It's got a very authentic look to it.

Paul Johnson: Well, let's go in and take a look.

Tuscan Designed Main Level

John Boyer: OK. This is an example of how that Italianate theme that we established on the outside architecture carries through to the inside of the home. The arches and the rounded corners on the drywall corners, and then of course the knotty alder woodwork, and the heavy doors. And it was interesting the way the architect set this up with, kind of a big open floor plan. But then we compartmentalized it to some degree with arches and wall sections. So you still have the open feel, but then you've got compartmentalized areas.

Now in the foyer, we've got everything on a circular basis. And this turret carries out a fundamental part of the Italianate theme, is that turret. Then we got heavy railings parts that really add to that massive theme oriented architecture. And then that wrought iron railing mimics some of the wrought iron in the light fixtures. The interesting thing too is all the windows are returned drywall. Returned so that it gives you the impression of a big thick masonry wall.

And so when you look at the windows, they're kind of punched into the wall with a bullnose return on the drywall that goes into the window. OK. Coming from the foyer into this room, this is kind of the great room. It's a combination of living room and dining room. It's a great space, because it's multi-useful for when you have lots of company, conversational types of grouping here.

Paul Johnson: It's like that old world charm.

John Boyer: Yes, exactly.

Living Room

And then the big massive fireplace of course, and it is a gas fireplace, so it's easy. You flip a switch and it's on. Recesses over the windows give you the arch. Carries the arch theme through without actually having to put an arch window in. Which wouldn't correspond with the outside windows. The Architect did a great job just kind of-- a lot of the stuff was kind of done as we were working on it. It was kind of done on the fly.

Paul Johnson: It's kind of fun to have that creativity.

John Boyer: Yes, exactly. The beams for instance were added as an afterthought. And getting them to work in the ceiling with different openings and windows and everything. We kind of like to make stuff line up.

Paul Johnson: So we're walking into the formal dining area.

John Boyer: This is the formal dining room, but it's not so formal that it's all alone. I mean, you can expand this space, because you've got the whole other family room attached to it.

Kitchen

Paul Johnson: The kitchen. This is the main part of the house.

John Boyer: Well, Kitchens often are, so they have to be functional. They have to be attractive, and they have to be very durable. Kids can sit at the bar stools, do their homework, or just hang out. It's a great spot. Big island, great for cooking on, or laying a big newspaper cross. And then the built-in appliances of course are awesome. I mean, the way that whole refrigerator just disappears into the cabinetry is really pretty neat. You have copper sinks, which are pretty interesting. Even the sinks are interesting in this house.

Paul Johnson: And that runs right into the informal dining room.

John Boyer: Informal dining room, which is plenty large to get a big table, open it up. The arch creates that separation, so you know you are entering a different space. Around the corner then we've got kind of a service area. There's actually some cabinetry for desks and so forth, and kind of a transitional area from mudroom into the kitchen just to drop everything in. Storage pantry, cabinetry, great mudroom entrance, and the neat thing is that it's so beautiful back here in the service area. And it's as nice as a lot of homes front foyers are. Powder room right off of this area here with detail inlaid tile. It's really awesome.

Paul Johnson: And it all comes together quite nicely.

Upper Level with South Facing Master Suite

John Boyer: A lot of times circle stairways are hard to walk on, because their treads are too narrow at the middle, and this is a nice, large enough radius where you've got decent size treads. Then you've got the serpentine loft up here, which I thought was pretty carrying that circular theme and the dome. The circle here is pretty cool.

Paul Johnson: I take it this is the master right here, right off the--

John Boyer: Yeah naturally the master we wanted on this end of the house where you get the view of the lake. And then the kids are down on the other side house.

But the master suite is really a self-contained area. You start by going into a vestibule in the master suite. From that vestibule it branches off to the bathroom, closet, laundry, and then the sleeping area. So the sleeping room is over here, and of course that's got the windows facing the lake. Big doors that open up and let the breezes go in the summertime. You walk through the bathroom and there's an exercise room actually in back behind the bathroom.

Paul Johnson: Oh, really?

Bright and Open Lower Level

John Boyer: Which was interesting. This is an awesome space down here. It's so big and open. When we designed this room there was a big effort to try and get the fireplace over by where the TV goes. And so we decided, well, the fireplace is an ambience thing. Why wouldn't it be on the side? So we put it over here, and especially when it's the size that it is, the massiveness with the stone and the big mantle and so forth.

Paul Johnson: It matches the exterior turret again, working with the same stone. You were talking a little bit about the bar too.

John Boyer: Yes, the bar is pretty neat the way it's sunken on the back side. So everyone can sit around here at the standard height stools. Kids can get up on them and so forth without having to climb up on a big, tall stool. And yet the person working the bar from the other side is sunken down about a foot and a half, so they can then be at the right level.

Paul Johnson: You get all the natural light, but it's a very homey, and it can be a very rich atmosphere at the same time.

John Boyer: No compromising the finishes or the quality of the finishes. It's all the same down here as it us upstairs. That cabinetry that the TV is set into almost looks like a separate piece of furniture. And you have a nice office slash bedroom down here. Now the ceiling jumps up in here too. Of course there's a lot of mechanicals in this ceiling, so this area is dropped to about an eight foot ceiling height. Which works fine for this area with the pool table, and bar, and so forth. Now over here it jumps up to a nine foot ceiling. So we're able to consolidate mechanicals in this side, so that this area could stay high and give us some more of our spacious room.

Top 3 Features of the Lake Minnewashta Luxury Home for Sale

Paul Johnson: So what three things about the home stick out most your mind? Maybe areas of interest with the home?

John Boyer: Well, there's a lot of things about this house that stick out in my mind. I can name three things. But there's a lot more that. I really like the way the house is situated on the site. The fact that the garage is behind, not facing the street, and is privatized back there. And then the house reflects the proximity to the lake, and the windows and orientation if it. It's pretty awesome.

And secondly, it's just the aesthetics. I mean, the cool design of the Tuscany design, or the Italianate look that the house carries through-- and it carriers throughout the entire house, all four sides of the exterior, and every room on the inside, knows that they belong to this house.

The third item I would imagine, would be the comfort of this house. I mean, it's built with a lot of insulation, it's got all of this closed cell foam throughout the thick outside walls. High efficiency windows. And the maintenance-free aspect of the stucco exterior, and the wood shingle roof. All of those things just add to a lot of value in this property. You know, I can add other things too. One thing would be, the proximity to the neighborhood and Excelsior MN Real Estate. The location by the lake, access to the beach front, and so forth, and the views to the wetlands behind. It's pretty awesome. So all of those things lend to just a great value in this house as a Lake Minnewashta luxury home for sale

Lake Minnewashta Luxury Home For Sale

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