'Pirate House' Lures
Builder Steve Kuhl sat with his 6-year-old nephew Zack and advised him, “We could do anything we want to your room. You can take a spaceship, a battleship, a castle, a racecar, a pirate boat … ” Swashbuckling Zack stopped him right there, offered on the pirate boat.
Kuhl was building for the majority of his lifetime, and involving his abilities and creativity, he knew he could make anything happen. His creativity flowed out of a (fake) jail cell, across a bridge, over to a boat’s hull, up a crow’s nest, down a secret passage into the cupboard and lasted throughout the house all the way down to a spiral slide into the basement.
Have a chair and prepare for a fun ride through a house filled with fun, joy and whimsy.
in a Glance
Location: Medina, Minnesota
Size: Approximately 6,800 square feet; 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms
Who lives here: In the time it had been created, a household including two young children. The dad is Steve Kuhl’s brother. The house has since been marketed (more on this later).
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Since you approach Zack’s room, a peek around the corner lets you know this is no ordinary bedroom; the very first thing you encounter is a rock jail “for locking up bad guys, and possibly small sisters,” says Kuhl.
From the jail, a bridge extends across the room to a pirate’s ship. The hull hangs out of a loft area that was fresh before Kuhl and Zack decided to transform it. The bridge can manage the weight of four adults.
Kuhl Design Build LLC
I had been convinced Kuhl must have employed some sort of Pirates of Penzance set-designing genius, however he designed and constructed the entire thing himself. “I’ve never dropped my inner child … I only really got to that location and said, ‘Let’s just have fun’ once I dreamt up this,” he says. “I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said a few people die at 25 and are not buried until 75. I will never let this happen; I am still a child at heart”
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Kuhl constructed the boat’s hull much like you would on a classic seaworthy boat, with ribs, in this case made from laminated plywood. “This was a fantastic excuse to use the CNC (computer numerical control) for something apart from cupboards,” says Kuhl. To put it differently, you feed a computer the measurements you desire and it cuts the boards for you. The hull material is ⅜-inch Masonite, which can be high density and flexible.
The square openings beneath the primary deck open to a small storage area.
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Kuhl Design Build LLC
The next challenge was the way to coat the hull. “We wanted something that would look like old-world planking that may stand up to kids’ fingernails,” Kuhl says. “We worked like mad scientists in the shop, combining epoxy and varnish chemical with brownish colorant to discover the perfect mix. After we applied it we combed it to give it a rough texture.”
A crow’s nest tops the boat. A mural of sea and skies completes the seafaring vibe.
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Kuhl is about to escape from beneath the wheelhouse.
Kuhl Design Build LLC
“This gap provides a fast escape to the cupboard beneath the boat for emergency apparel changes,” Kuhl says.
“We worked together with the local building department to make certain all safety concerns were addressed. For instance, the walls of this pirate boat are standard rail-height high”
Approximate budget for a pirate room such as this: $40,000
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Downstairs in the mudroom, the first three wooden doors provide storage area, but if you start the fourth door, you get quite a surprise. “It is three lockers plus a ‘whoa!'” Describes Kuhl.
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Kuhl Design Build LLC
The hole that looks like some sort of really weird front-loading washing machine in the previous picture is in fact an alternate approach to make it to the basement.
Kuhl calls for the slide “severe tubular craziness.”
Kuhl Design Build LLC
The twisted journey ends in the climbing cave, and this is part of a greater “sports court”
Approximate slide budget: $2,500 to $5,000 for the components
Kuhl Design Build LLC
“I’ve been climbing my entire life; I am a fighter,” says Kuhl. He designed himself with the aid of 3-D modeling.
Approximate rising wall budget: $15,000
Watch more scaling walls
Kuhl Design Build LLC
The floor underneath the climbing wall has been covered with a custom crash mat that is 26 inches thick. On the right is the golf simulator.
At this point, I am sure a few of you are freaking out at the notion of resale value. Kuhl’s philosophy is, “If you plan on being at a house for some time, build yourself. These children have so many joyful memories from this house that will endure the remainder of their lives” Additionally, he told me that the whimsy of this house ruled seven 10 “vanilla” buyers, but the remainder said, “I’ve never noticed that before. I must get this!” They got into a bidding war, along with his brother got more than his asking price.
Kuhl Design Build LLC
“I am not into golf, but this got me into it,” says Kuhl. You push a true golf ball right onto the display (do not worry, it simply drops), and a military-grade software program figures out the twist, angle and speed, projecting its trajectory on the monitor. “You are able to watch the Masters Tournament on TV whilst playing the Masters class about the simulator,” says Kuhl.
Approximate budget for the golf simulator: The program was about $18,000 as it was purchased; Kuhl is not certain how much it costs today.
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Ultimately, there is another enjoyable surprise for the adults; this bookcase off the primary entry swings open into a secret stairs that serves as the only entry to a key library upstairs.
Kuhl Design Build LLC
Here’s the key library.
“Designing and constructing this house filled me with creativity and joy,” says Kuhl. “What is cool is attempting to bring that exact same creative spirit to a regular kitchen renovation, whether it’s through sudden features like concealed storage or pop-up TVs that make it enjoyable.” I can not think of a better attitude for a designer or a builder to get.
More:
‘Hobbit House’ in the Pennsylvania Countryside
Space We Love: Down the Rabbit Hole