Voyageurs Retreat
The aesthetic of the built environment is deliberately minimal and rustic, so as not to detract from the stunning natural environment. Native stone and finished wood constitute the design vocabulary.
Voyageurs Retreat is a new paradigm in vacation property development. It develops lakeshore and lake access home sites more responsibly and sustainably while enriching the local community. The developer, Naterra Land, with the assistance of Treeline, has gone beyond typical Minnesota vacation property developments by creating a network of preserved community open space and parks, exceeding state requirements for lake setbacks, providing city water and sewer services to protect Wynne Lake, and interpreting natural features through on-site signage and printed literature. Located on the eastern Iron Range and facing Giants Ridge Golf and Ski Resort, Voyageurs Retreat will eventually comprise more than 2000 acres during an 8-10 year development period. The first phases of the project are near completion and comprise 271 lots on nearly 800 acres, with an integrated system of open space preserves.
Treeline was responsible (in collaboration with Dahlgren, Shardlow, and Uban) for initial lot layout and planning, and has subsequently driven most aspects of the design, including road placement; lot layout; creation and naming of "settlement" areas; design of all open space amenities, signage, and parks; and marketing copy. Treeline personally, in the field, stakes all community amenities, allowing for a flawless interpretation of concepts onto the land and overall respect for micro-scale qualities of the site.
Balance is the key to the project. No single factor is allowed to drive the design process, and that results in a project that has a diversity of individual lot characters, types, and prices; as well as a diversity of preserved landscapes and amenities. Voyageurs Retreat steps into the realm of conservation while remaining economically viable, which is very important for the future of conservation-oriented development in Minnesota.