Mediterranean Meets Minnesota

PRIOR LAKE, MN

Completed 2023

Weathered wood deck with stairs and white railing before renovation, overlooking a lakeside lawn in autumn - Mom's Design Build

Covered deck with cedar pergola, hanging daybed swing, wicker chairs and candle niche overlooking the lake - Mom's Design Build

BEFOREAFTER

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TA-DA!

Existing two-level wood deck with cable railing on white house before renovation in Prior Lake, MN - Mom's Design Build

Lake home exterior with two-level covered porch, cedar arches, pergola, glass railings and hanging rattan chairs - Mom's Design Build

BEFOREAFTER

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Behind the Design

Design Notes

Before

Three stacked cedar decks on a 1960s split-level above Prior Lake — rotting, failing, and finally unsafe. On a lot that plunges toward the water, those decks were the family’s only outdoor rooms.

The Idea

Rebuild all three levels as a Mediterranean-meets-California composition with a nod to Nordic hygge: stucco, tropical hardwood, fir beams and columns at the pergolas, natural stone, and tile decking — with arches repeating through the lighting, columns, pergola brackets, and fireplace.

After

A work-from-home wife gets her weather-proof, bug-proof outdoor office and a brushed-concrete yoga patio with a checkerboard stone inlay before the fireplace. The lake view survives from every level, and a limestone retaining wall replaced the rotted timber one that used to greet the water.

The Brief

—Replace the rotting triple-decks with more usable space
—Protection from weather, bugs, and sun — good enough to work outside
—The ease of California living, in Mediterranean dress
—Preserve the lake view from every main room

Materials & Craft

Stucco & tropical hardwood
Fir pergola beams and columns
Tile decking
Brushed concrete with checkerboard stone inlay
Limestone retaining wall

Three decks, one language

Kitchen level, family-room level, den level — rebuilt as a single composition in white stucco, natural wood, and grey accents, arches echoing through every detail.

Water-tight underneath

The two stacked decks are dry below — multiple bladder systems with extensive drainage make the underside rooms real rooms.

The yoga patio

The lowest level is brushed concrete — the surface the homeowner asked for to practice yoga — with a two-stone checkerboard inlay set before the fireplace.

Swings, engineered

Both pergolas were engineered from the start to hang swings — leisure planned into the structure, not bolted on after.

The hard part

A winter build on a steep lakeshore: keeping two stacked decks watertight below, replacing the failed timber retaining wall in limestone, and holding the Mediterranean lightness through a Minnesota January.