NATURAL FIT

WITH LANDSCAPES NEAR AND FAR AS THEIR GUIDE, A MINNEAPOLIS COUPLE BUILT A NEW HOME THAT COMPLEMENTS ITS ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORHOOD AND SOFTENS THE LINE BETWEEN INDOORS AND OUT.

- KELLY RYAN KEGANS

For the past 10 years, nature has beckoned Jesse and Katie Kath. In fall, their family often makes the drive from Minneapolis up to the North Shore of Lake Superior, just as the leaves are turning and crisp temperatures are settling in. Other times, they've flown to Cannon Beach, a favorite coastal town in northern Oregon.

In those rocky, wave-swept landscapes, they find a certain kind of peace, liberated from their perpetual punch lists as small-business owners and parents to three teens. "It's uninterrupted family time," Katie says. "There are fewer distractions from devices, work and our kids being pulled in different directions-from summer sports to gathering with friends."

Jesse and Katie own Jkath Design Build + Reinvent, a firm that specializes in large-scale remodels and historic home renovations. When they became their own clients and embarked on building a nest for their blended family, they drew on those trips spent hiking in the woods, strolling along rugged shores and trading stories around evening bonfires. "We wanted to bring those feelings into the space," Katie explains.

The Kaths' new home blends into their established neighborhood of early 20th-century Tudors, bungalows and cottages-an era Katie loves. "I was pulling from a library of Midwest homes, largely in Chicago," she says. "Even though it's new construction, we wanted it to fit in, with a nod to history that felt a little bit more contemporary."