Ravenwood House

Location: North Woods. Minnesota. United States Year of construction: 1998 Architect: David Salmela Associates: Carrol & Franck,

Hurst & Heinrichs, Coen & Stumpf Photography: Peter Kerze

Jim Brandenburg discovered this secluded spot in 1979 on an assignment for National Geographic to photograph a waterfall close to where Ravenwood now stands. This site lies within the Superior National Forest and on the border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It is also the setting for Jim’s later best-selling portrait of wolves, Brother Wolf, published in 1993.

In 1981 Jim and his wife Judy, who were living in Minneapolis at the time, built a holiday home here in the middle of the woods. Constructed from the trunks of cedar trees, it comprised four small units – a log cabin, a guest house, a sauna, and a washroom – arranged in a staggered fashion down one side of the hill.

As time went by, the Brandenburgs decided to extend the cabin so that they could live in it for

The original cabin now has a kitchen on the lower floor and a double bedroom on the upper. The main 4,570 sq ft (425 m2) building constructed 45 degrees southwest of the first is linked to it by the lower-floor kitchen and gallery.

The building comprises three clearly differentiated areas: a double-height space with a store and bathroom; a second two-story space with a living room on the lower floor and a guest bedroom on the upper floor; and a third, three – story area containing, from the ground up, the main den, a work space with computers, and, suspended above, an attic area.

Salmela, who is a great admirer of the architects Aalto, Asplund, Eliel, and Eero Saarinen, shares Brandenburg’s taste for Nordic tradition. In Ravenwood he uses two materials — turf roofing with a cedar-wood covering – that were used for centuries in Scandinavian buildings.

а шт, і

In 1997 Ravenwood was awarded a national prize by the ALA (American Institute of Architects) and a regional prize by the Minnesota AIA. This recognition was well deserved. David Salmc-la’s work develops out of a desire to interpret the wishes and tastes of his clients and when he achieves this, the result is almost magical.

Updated: 18th October 2014 — 2:23 am