If you’re passing through Northfield on Lincoln Street this Spring, check out a renovation project we did on a home close to the corner of Lincoln Street and Lincoln Lane. For those of you familiar with Northfield, you probably noticed our trucks parked in front of the house (across from the St. Olaf practice fields) for a good part of last summer.
Many years ago a previous owner had done a nice job of landscaping on this home, but time took its toll, and it was time to start over. They contacted local landscape architect Spencer Jones, who came up with an ambitious landscape plan to renovate their entire front yard. The plan included a bluestone patio, an upper lawn area, the landscape plantings, several retaining walls, and three step systems.

We had Jim Gleason and his crew from American Excavation do the demolition and grading.They started by tearing out all of the existing steps, walkways, and old plantings, including a couple of large shade trees. The only tree left was a huge hackberry that provided shade for the front yard. They then re-graded the whole yard and excavated for the retaining walls that we put in. See the photo at left to view the project after the demolition process. (Click photo to enlarge)

Part of the challenge was to make the retaining walls to look like they had been there for years. The clients had seen some stone that they liked when they were on a trip to Arkansas, and they had it shipped to Northfield to use for the project. It has a unique brown color with a nice aged look (see photo at right). Constructing the walls was the most time-consuming phase of the project, because no two stones were alike.
We also constructed a bluestone patio was constructed out of 1-2″ thick bluestone pieces that came in various square and rectangular sizes (called an ashlar pattern). They are quarried out of New York and Pennsylvania.

We finished up the landscaping and sodding in the early fall. It will be exciting to see their new landscaping come to life this Spring!

I will give you an update this spring with photos of the finished project.

Left: Tony Line and Brian Blackford of Straight Line Concrete working on one of the concrete step systems. There is a total of 3 step systems, connected with exposed aggregate landings and walkways.

Earlier I wrote about the construction of Amerman Pavilion and the great volunteer efforts of dozens of people willing to donate their time, labor, and expertise to see the see the project through.

In addition to the pavilion I was able to supervise the construction of the WINGS Oasis, designed by Spencer Jones of Northfield. The Oasis is a misting station located next to Amerman Pavilion. In case you don’t know what a misting station is, it is basically a vertical pole that emits a fine spray of water out of nozzles placed at different heights on the pole. Our station consists of a brick paver patio with 3 misting poles placed in a triangular pattern which, at the push of a button, emit a fine spray that cools off joggers, soccer players or even your pet dog. (Sorry, it doesn’t cool off hot tempers) The brick pavers are Eco-friendly, which means that they allow the water from the misting poles to soak in to the ground, thus preventing water run-off. It also includes a handicap accessible drinking fountain, a stone seat-wall and landscaping.
A lot of thanks goes to WINGS of Northfield for the generous support they provided for the Oasis. The generosity of this organization made a big difference in this project, and I’m sure their stated mission of “improving the lives of women and children in Northfield area” will continue be felt as they continue to be involved in the Northfield community.

Click on photos to enlarge

Left: Ben Bauman of Grove Landscaping prepares the sub base for the brick eco-pavers
Center: John and his Dad Jim Pokorney keeping the brick layers busy
Right: Three of the volunteers discussing the project (or is that last night’s Raiders game they’re talking about?)

Tony Line and Brian Blackford of Straight Line Concrete did the cement work, and Mark Welch of Welch Plumbing was generous with his time, installing the water supply lines to the misting heads and drinking fountain. The trees, shrubs (supplied by Knecht’s nursery) and pavers were installed by our volunteers on a Saturday in early November, about a week before the snow started flying.

It was my privilege to work with several great volunteers on both the landscaping and the construction of the patio/misting station, including the members of the steering committee and the Northfield Soccer Association. The soccer community and the citizens of Northfield owe them and all the volunteers a big thank you for their efforts in getting this project moving forward.

This spring we will continue the work to finish up the project. Yet to come is a dry stone retaining wall, construction of a burm and more landscaping. The misting poles should be coming soon. I will keep you up to date as we finish up the project.

The pavilion and the misting station are great additions to the soccer complex. It is yet another one of those things that set Northfield (and our soccer community) apart, to make our town a great place to live and raise a family.