Stunning Wisconsin Shouse with Large Shop, Natural Wood Interiors

Today’s featured home is this charming Wisconsin shouse. Split into a cozy home and a towering two-door shop building, this shouse does a great job of contrasting rustic country comforts with a number of popular modern design conventions. 

Blending the old and the new and getting a good result is tough even for experienced architects, and there’s plenty of places where this stunning home pulls it off beautifully!

There’s no shortage of things to love about this great shouse, so let’s jump right in.

Exterior

The first thing that jumps out about this home is the color scheme, which manages to be bright and exciting without clashing too much with the surrounding natural beauty. A cool green on the base cladding and the roof sandwiches the pale gray color of the walls to create an eye-catching contrast, blending nicely with the surrounding flat grasslands and rows of trees.

After coming up the sweeping, freshly-paved drive and past a gorgeous exterior stone chimney, you can walk down a small footpath to the home’s small, covered porch. Walled in on three sides, the porch is supported by untreated log beams which add to the already potent rural character of the place, contrasted by a row of modern spotlights in the varnished wood ceiling. 

The porch is served by three doors; two leading into the house, and one providing access to the shop. Though it isn’t particularly large, this porch is cozy and welcoming and looks like a great place for relaxing outside on hot summer days. Standing a little way back from it, you can see a pair of vented cupolas and cockerel weathervanes on the peaks of the home’s roofs. We see a lot of these classic decorative pieces on houses and condominiums, but we never get tired of them!

Living Room

Stepping inside, the first thing you’ll notice is the abundant use of cedar on the walls and ceilings. We love the classic, almost frontier-like sense of warmth this gives the home, and the way it creates a neutral canvas for more modern elements to play on, like the tall casement windows, sliding back door, and recessed spotlights dotted over the ceiling.

A dark sofa and armchair suite blend smoothly with the black iron of the fireplace, which seats neatly within the exposed stone of the chimney next to a small firewood nook. We absolutely adore this focal point for its tall, cobblestone facade and natural wood elements that serve as a mantel for various country-living ornaments. The way it takes up the space usually used for a TV unit really emphasizes a homey, ‘back to your roots’ spirit of the interior. With the large built-in bookshelf situated behind the armchair, who needs a TV anyway!

Kitchen / Dining Room Area

This shouse’s kitchen and dining room exhibit a simple but practical layout that makes the most out of limited space. The fridge marks the start of an ergonomic L-shaped section of the kitchen, covering a portion for small appliances, a stove and microwave, and some more marble-effect worktops. 

Directly opposite the stove, there’s a sink built into a breakfast bar just above the dishwasher and flanked on each side by a square of the worktop. This layout seems exceptionally ergonomic for cooking meals for large groups, allowing you to switch between the stove, sink, dishwasher, and ‘overflow’ worktops seamlessly.

The dining area is simple but perfect, with a medium-sized, oak-colored table just off the kitchen, and a smaller, circular one in the adjacent corner. Both of these tables are perfectly placed, situated close to large windows which afford great views of the surrounding landscape.

Bedroom

In the bedroom, the wood walls give way to a soft, white-and-blue paint job, which plays nicely with more use of natural wood in the furniture and doorways, and gives the space an all-around sense of calm. 

The king-size bed is given plenty of space on both sides. This, along with four windows and ample lighting from a ceiling fan and spotlights, stresses the airy, breathable mien found in this room and throughout the home. We love the Venetian blinds on each of the windows, with large, wooden slats that add a little texture and character to each of the windows, without obstructing the view of the pastoral landscape outside.

Bathroom

The bathroom has the same calming color scheme as the bedroom, which creates a charming backdrop for the marble-effect tops where the sinks are installed, and the pale gray tiling on the floor. Natural wood in the under-basin cabinets and a tall closet, each with dainty, wrought-iron style handles, perpetuates the classic character found in the living area.  Our favorite feature of this room is the mirror mounted above the basins; wood-framed and large enough for two, and lit up by a strip of wall lights with minimalist, modern shades.

Mudroom / Second Entry Way

A long, ‘rec room’ style space bridges the living area with the shop on this property. Doors in each side provide quick access to the front porch and the back of the property, and two rows of recessed spotlights fill the room with a warming glow. With plenty of storage, a little work surface with a microwave, and two hardy, indoor picnic benches, this seems to be the perfect spot for having snacks and light meals during long sessions in the shop, or coming home for breaks while you enjoy great Wisconsin outdoors just outside the walls.

Building a Wisconsin Shouse

This Wisconsin shouse exhibits a beautiful blend of old and new interior design sensibilities and seems like it would make a wonderful permanent residence just as much as it would a country escape. If you’d like to build your own shouse, why not check out some of our featured shouse homes to get the inspiration you are looking for.