Old World English Manor

Minnetrista, MN

Completed 2023

The client’s existing deck and porch, which were originally built with the house 20 years ago, could not stand up to the scale and finish of the house. With tiny posts, a tired screened-in porch, and no functional usable space below, they felt the space was not being taken advantage of. The building setback from the lake restricted the expansion of the footprint, so the task became working within the existing footprint of the deck and porch to recapture all the lost square footage underneath and provide protected entertaining spaces.

TA-DA!

Behind the Design

Design Notes

Before

A twenty-year-old deck and screened porch that never matched the house beneath them — tiny posts, tired screens, and a shadowy void below that gave nothing back. The lake setback meant the footprint could not grow an inch.

The Idea

Recapture everything underneath. Dry in the deck completely, spread a natural sandstone patio across the full footprint, and dress it like an English manor library moved outdoors — coffered ceiling, interior-style wrapped columns, rich dark details.

After

An outdoor bar with a kegerator and solid bluestone countertop waits under the porch for game days. Custom carriage lights flank the columns, a stone-capped step runs the room’s full length with an LED channel hidden under its lip, and upstairs the new stainless railing finally lets the lake through.

The Brief

—Better weather protection in the existing screen porch
—Turn the wasted space under the deck into real rooms
—Match the exterior to the home’s interior architecture
—Entertaining space for small gatherings and larger parties

Materials & Craft

Natural sandstone patio
Coffered & cedar tongue-and-groove ceilings
Solid bluestone bar countertop
Custom Fine Arts carriage lights
Stainless steel cable railing
Vinyl window/screen combination panels

The library ceiling

A custom coffered ceiling carries from the main area into the bar — designed around the opposing center points of the two spaces to achieve the English manor-library feel.

Columns with secrets

Interior-grade wrapped columns with custom boot and crown details hide the deck drainage system — and were designed to accept future hidden mobile screens.

The game-day bar

Under the old porch: a bar with kegerator space, solid bluestone counter and backsplash, and a mount for the outdoor TV.

A step you can find in the dark

The full-length stone-capped step carries a recessed LED strip in a custom groove under its tread — safety rendered as detail.

The hard part

The lake setback froze the footprint, so every gain had to come from within it — a fully dried-in deck system above, waterproofing hidden behind cedar tongue-and-groove, and all of it detailed to old-world standards.