Cabin kitsch, you’ll always have a place, but not at this North Woods getaway. Here, with internationally known kitchen designer Mick De Giulio at the helm, lake house style has entered uncharted realms of sophistication. And, not surprisingly, considering De Giulio’s pedigree, it all started in the kitchen. “My interior designer suggested I call Mick De Giulio,” Ace says. “I thought, who in Chicago is going to want to work on a house in Detroit Lakes? But the next thing you know, I’m meeting with him. He’s showing me pictures. I’m realizing my kitchen is going to be stunningly beautiful, and the rest of the house is going to look like I ran out of money.” Ace laughs heartily. “I begged, ‘Mick, will you please do the whole house?’ He said yes, and I was pretty pleased—a guy with so much horsepower redoing my house.” Before De Giulio added anything to the house, though, he took some things away, starting with superfluous ornamentation on the exposed interior beams. “We removed extraneous pieces that made the house look like a Swiss chalet,” the designer says. “The idea was to make the house more modern.” To that end, De Giulio also covered the orangish-red beams with an ebonized finish that visually connects them to new flooring, a dramatic hand-scraped ebonized walnut. “Now, when you step into the foyer, the room explodes to views of the lake,” De Giulio says. “The height expands. It’s a soaring space, but it still feels intimate. There’s a fire going. There are a couple of chairs right there—it sets the mood right away.” For some guests, the lake can wait a moment. They’re tempted by the upholstered wing chairs that interior designer Joan Hebert has cozied up to the fireplace, its white quartzite surround glowing against a wall of reclaimed French oak. “Everything in the house is natural: wood, stone, glass,” Hebert says. “I wanted the furnishings to have that same organic feel. It’s a sophisticated look, but suitable for a lake house. You can still sit down in a bathing suit.” Columns of Midwest-quarried stone frame the foyer, where a cozy conversation area welcomes guests. Striéd fabric on wing chairs repeats the tones and lines of the wood fireplace wall. De Giulio crafted a kitchen made for entertaining. Beneath a dramatic beamed ceiling, a center island with a eucalyptus base and Iceberg quartzite top serves both the work zone on one side and the breakfast bar on the other. A Wolf range, Sub-Zero refrigerator, Elektra coffee machine, and custom cabinets, including De Giulio’s signature “Metal Boy,” ensure perfect function. An Elektra espresso machine nestles into its own special niche on the kitchen counter. A custom Gibson & Gibson chandelier repeats the shape and elegance of a De Giulio Collection table with a hand-rubbed bronze base and cottopesto (fired terra-cotta) top. Architecture plays to views of lake and sky, with a vaulted ceiling that allows for an abundance of windows. Geometric pendants echo the shape of window frames, while a sectional and armchairs soften the space and provide comfortable spots to take in the lake view. A wall-mounted shagreen console provides sophisticated storage. Linen-look grass cloth wraps the primary bedroom, which adjoins the primary bath, home to an Agape “Spoon” tub with a Kallista “One” tub filler. The shower wall and floor are brushed Iceberg quartzite. A skylight in a dormer showers light into the windowless primary closet.
