Mother Knows Best

Who’s a more enthusiastic booster of a young architect than his or her proud mother? There’s even a book on the subject. The appropriately titled A House for My Mother, by Beth Dunlop, features the signature Philadelphia home famed modernist Robert Venturi designed for his mom and, from our part of the world, the cabin Mark Larson and his wife, Jean Rehkamp Larson, created for Mark’s parents near Annandale.

So it’s not surprising that when the Awes clan—Sue, Mel, and their five grown children—purchased land near the Knife River on the North Shore, Sue would want son Ben, a newly minted architect, to design a cabin for the space. Besides being her son, Ben is a kindred spirit—“We get each other,” in his mom’s words—and Sue knew he would be sensitive to the wishes of both parents and siblings. Ben, for his part, was honored to be entrusted with the family cabin’s blueprint.

Not that the job was a piece of cake. Each family member brought a “non-negotiable” to the planning discussions. Sue, for instance, wanted a kitchen sink positioned to give her a vista of the water. Mel insisted on a big masonry fireplace. Among the siblings’ requests was the use of vertical logs, as in many of the cabins the family had rented along the shore. There was unanimous agreement on the need for a large central room where the family could play games and enjoy each other’s company without the distraction of a television set and other clutter. As Sue puts it, “We wanted a fresh, modern, somewhat Scandinavian open space that brought the majestic view of Lake Superior into our lives.”

Ben’s design lived up to his mother’s expectations—and, apparently, to everyone else’s as well. He acknowledges, however, that his mom’s desired “sink with a view” was not part of his original plan—he had to modify an earlier design to include it—but that, after three years of happy usage, her idea proved to be a good one. Mother knew best.