Crosslake Lake Retreat — Cedar Shake

The Whitefish Chain is a string of 14 connected lakes running through Crow Wing County by 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 hold its water-resistance and fire rating, and Minnesota insurers have gotten stricter on cedar roofs in recent years, even well-kept ones. In Crow Wing County, where January temperatures regularly drop below zero 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 lets the cedar 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.