Cabin contrast

Joel Koyama, Star Tribune

Paul Stankey and Sarah Nordby built their cabin using old steel shipping containers and other salvaged materials.

"Going up north" is an Upper Midwest summer ritual, and the desire for a cabin of one's own seems hard-wired into our psyche. But the vision of the perfect getaway home is as varied as our thousands of lakes.

By Kim Palmer, Star Tribune

Last update: August 4, 2009 - 7:58 PM

For Joe and Patsy Duffy, "the cabin" is a compound: a half-dozen dwellings in the Wisconsin woods. The ambience is rustic but the amenities are anything but. Duffy Trails boasts flat-screen TVs, enough beds to accommodate family reunions, an art studio with ceramic kiln, and high-speed Internet access -- so Joe can stay in the loop with what's going on at Duffy & Partners, his Minneapolis design and branding firm.

"Thanks to technology, I can do what I do anywhere," he said. On a sunny July morning, he reviewed designs via Blackberry. Clients on a recent conference call had no idea that he was miles from the office. Duffy doesn't mind work-related interruptions when he's at the cabin, he said.

"If I was doing something I didn't love, I'd need to get away from it, but I love looking at this; it's not work for me."

Architects Paul Stankey and Sarah Nordby also work when they're at their cabin. But they're working on the cabin itself, a small unique retreat they've built with their own hands, using shipping containers and salvage. Weekends there offer a complete break from all the distractions and comforts of urban life. There's no plumbing, no electricity and no TV.

"It is glorified camping, which we like," Stankey said. "We're out of cell-phone range, so the phone never rings. It's our escape."

The couples' cabins are radically different, but both deliver the coveted cabin state of mind. Nordby calls it "a reset button."

Duffy, who sometimes pulls his easel out onto the deck overlooking the lake, does his best painting when he's at the cabin, he said. "I get totally lost in it. There's something about being up here, surrounded by nature."

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