Crosslake Lake Retreat — Cedar Shake

The Whitefish Chain is a string of 14 connected lakes running through Crow Wing County east of Crosslake — one of the most-fished and most-photographed lake systems in the state. The cabin on this lot was built in 1978 as a weekend place and has been in the same family since, upgraded twice. The owners wanted the exterior to read the way the original cabin read: cedar shake, stone chimney, hand-hewn timber gable ends. Not a performance-material argument — an aesthetic and family legacy one, and we respect that.

Hand-split Western red cedar shake at 12/12 pitch is not a low-maintenance choice. We told them that plainly before the contract was signed. Cedar needs treatment every 5 to 7 years to preserve water-resistance and fire rating. In Crow Wing County, where January temperatures regularly drop to -20°F and ice dam risk is high from December through March, the eave and valley detailing has to be done right. We ran ice-and-water shield four feet up from the drip edge on every eave — well above the Minnesota code minimum — and through both valleys in the 10/12 shed dormer above the rear sleeping porch.

The shake is No. 1 Blue Label hand-split and resawn at 24-inch length, installed over a pressure-treated skip sheathing system that allows the cedar to breathe from below. Interlayment felt runs between every course on the 12/12 main gable. The stone chimney got new copper flashing and a copper cap.

Six weeks after install the eave courses were already beginning to weather toward silver-grey, which is exactly what the family wanted. By next summer the whole roof will have moved in that direction. It will not look like a new roof, and that is the point.