How the Krones turned their cabin into their dream home

By Alison Stucke

Less than three years ago, a little red cabin with a white roof, white door, white windowpanes, and an outhouse sat on Ken and Tammi Krone’s property on the shore of Caribou Lake just 15 minutes outside of Duluth. Ken, Tammi, and their son Zach loved the cabin. They lived in a home only five miles away, also in the Caribou Lake area, but the cabin was their peaceful retreat and their fun-filled getaway during weekends and vacation times.

Then one night during a storm, a tree fell and hit the little red cabin.

“The tree shook the cabin up pretty good,” Ken said. Rather than just repair the damage the tree had caused to the cabin, Ken and Tammi were surprised by a different response. They wanted something different than the little red cabin: they wanted a home they could live in year-round. This shake-up experience became the event that inspired the Krones to build their year-round home on the property and to live there permanently.

“Before the storm, we had already started building a garage on the property, and I always thought that

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The kitchen features Boos blutcherblock countertops in maple, and round pendant smoked glass lights hang over the double cast iron porcelain sink, while recessed lights dot the ceiling above.

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building would be very overwhelming, but it wasn’t such a horrific project,” Tammi explained.

“So I asked Heather Hiner to design a home,” Ken added. “We decided that we could handle building it.”

The Decision to Build is Made

“When I first met with the homeowner they were conflicted about tearing down or moving the old cabin in favor of building new because of its charm and coziness,” said architect Heather Hiner. “Only two weeks later, Mother Nature made the decision for them during the 2016 straight line windstorm in which the cabin was all but destroyed. So we went to work designing a one-level, functional, cozy year-round home where the old cabin once stood. One design challenge was maximizing the lakeside rooms and views since the house was limited to 41 feet wide because of the lot. This was achieved by setting the kitchen towards the back of the open concept great room with the master bedroom just steps away. The cozy feel is evident, even with the higher ceilings and large windows which frame the views of the lake. Overall the layout and exterior style is simple, yet has a charm that echoes the original cabin.”

The Krones lived in their garage on the property as the 1,711 square foot farmhouse-style home was being built. They were able to move into the home at Christmas 2017.

“Heather is a wonderful architect and Jay is a fantastic builder,” Tammi said of general contractor Jay Zierden.

An All-Encompassing Great Room

The Krones have owned the Caribou Lake property for six years. It’s green, long and wide, with a paved driveway flowing down to a large garage and deluxe chicken coup, and then further down to the house and Caribou Lake below. Walk through the home’s main entrance into the open-concept great room which includes living room, dining room, and kitchen in one large, open space, allowing everyone to be together when meals are being prepared or cleaned up. Colors throughout are white for ceilings and contrast, black for accent pieces, and greys for wall paint. A high vaulted ceiling with exposed, darkstained rafter beams adds character while a high similarly angled wall of windows provides a gorgeous view of Caribou Lake.

To the left, the fireplace is covered in Chapel Hill Stack Stone from Great Lakes Stone, and so is the area above which holds the large screen TV. Gathered around the fireplace is a comfortable grey leather couch and chair, and a unique cypress coffee table. Laminate wood-look flooring runs throughout the home along with all in-floor heat.

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The "Krone Kabin" was once a small red-and-white structure until a storm kicked up a few years ago and a tree fell on it, giving homeowners Tammy and Ken Krone a chance to build their dream home on Caribou Lake.

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To the right is the kitchen featuring fingerprint-proof stainless-steel appliances, Boos butcherblock countertops in maple, and a subway tile chevron backsplash. Round pendant smoked glass lights hang over the double cast iron porcelain sink, and recessed lights dot the ceiling above.

“Brian Timm of Maureen’s LLC was our designer with the bathrooms, kitchen and lighting, and he did a great job,” Ken said.

The kitchen also includes an office nook where Tammi runs her event site selection business.

At the other end of the kitchen is the dining room area with a Kona Grove Collection dining table of heavily distressed acacia wood. Above the table hangs a black iron chandelier. Diners can enjoy the gorgeous view of Caribou Lake as they look out the windows on one side of the table. Fun décor of ceramic chickens and paintings of chickens provide the view on the other side of the dining room/kitchen area of their home.

“We have our indoor chickens and our outdoor chickens,” Tammi said. “Outside we have 11 chickens in the chicken coup.”

Master Bedroom with a View

The master bedroom also has a large window that looks out over Caribou Lake. It’s a view that changes greatly with every season, yet is beautiful year-round, the Krones said, and they never get tired of waking to it. The master bath includes a large rainfall-style shower with wood-look tile walls in the colors of birch bark and river stone floors.

A compact laundry room sits between the main entrance to the home and the guest bedroom. A guest bath also includes tile that looks like birch, and grey walls allow the Krones to switch out towel colors as they please. “It’s a nice neutral color,” Ken said.

Zach’s room has a view of the back yard which includes the weathered door from the old cabin’s outhouse leaning against a tree. It’s kept there as a memento of the original cabin.

The Mechanical Room

Because the entire house sits on a slab and there is no basement to hold the mechanical components, there is a room that contains all of that which Ken calls his “pride and joy.” It has a heavy steel door and, in fact, all walls and ceiling of the room are made of reinforced concrete. It can even be used as a safe room.

“The whole house could blow down and this room isn’t going anywhere,” Ken said.

The Krones are especially aware of the need for such a room after experiencing the destruction of their original cabin by a storm.

Another Room Outside the House

Ken poured concrete for a living, and his final job before retiring was pouring, coloring and stamping the concrete of their patio at their Caribou Lake home.

“The patio adds another room onto the house,” he said. “We use it all the time."

The family spend lots of time enjoying this wonderful part of the home with its comfortable furniture for relaxing, dining and enjoying the scenery. Scott Pionk of Scott Pionk Sodding & Landscaping did fabulous work on the landscaping and shore lining, the Krones said.

A backup generator on the side of the house auto powers on and off when needed.

“It’s already kicked on at least 10 times in the past year,” Ken said.

“It was a budget blower but totally worth it,” Tammi added.

Garage Mahal and Coop Mahal

Farther up the driveway are a wonderful three-car garage with in-floor heat and an upstairs apartment, and a luxurious chicken coop with five nesting boxes. Tammi calls them the Garage Mahal and the Coop Mahal. They truly live up to their names and go above and beyond the conventional garage and chicken coop in size, elegance and luxury.

It’s Still the Krone Kabin at Heart

“It was great working with the Krones,” said general contractor Jay Zierden. “They allowed me to build in some extra durability and security features like the safe room for storms, and a backup generator for times of power outages. I think the beamed ceiling was the perfect accent in the living room/kitchen area. The trapezoid windows facing the lake add the optimum amount of light to the primary living space.”

The dwelling place on this land has changed quite a bit during the past several years, but Tammi said she still calls it the Krone Kabin. She keeps a window from the original little red cabin by the front door of their new home. It’s got a black magic marker by it, and she asks all who visit the home to write a few words and their names on the window. She keeps it as a diary of all who visit during the year. The Krones are happy that they now can stay at the “Kabin” every day, all year ’round.

“Now we never want to leave here,” Tammi said. D

Alison Stucke is a Duluth freelance writer. Her Home Touches feature can be found in every issue of The woman Today.

The Krones' master bath includes a large rainfall-style shower with wood-look tile walls in the colors of birch bark and river stone floors. Their bedroom has a large window facing the lake which lets in substantial natural light.