A lake lot gives you the best view in the county and the hardest site to build on: a slope to the water, setbacks from the shoreline, limits on hard surface, and a yard that has to look right from the lake as well as from the house. We design and build lake home landscapes across the east metro and western Wisconsin, from terraced walls and stairs to the water to pools and patios that fit inside the rules.
White Bear Lake · St. Croix · Western Wisconsin Lakes · Shoreland Rules Handled
Two projects explain how we work on the water. On White Bear Lake, <a href="/projects/birchwood-village-lakefront/">Terraced on White Bear Lake</a> took a steep, unusable slope and turned it into tiered natural-stone walls, level lawn and planting terraces, stainless cable railings that keep the view open, and stairs that step all the way down to the water. On a wooded lake lot in Shakopee, <a href="/projects/shakopee-sustainable-modern/">The Sustainable Modern</a> set a fiberglass pool and tiered walls into a blank slope above the lake, inside the lake setbacks and around a septic system and mature trees the homeowners expected would force them to compromise.
The rules are part of the design. Shoreland ordinances limit how much of a lot can be hard surface, set structure setbacks from the ordinary high water level, and control what can be cleared in the shore impact zone; anything at or below the water line goes through the DNR, and the St. Croix riverway has its own stricter standards. Requirements vary by city and county, so we confirm them for your lot before we draw, and we design the walls, patios and plantings to pass review the first time.
White Bear Lake and a wooded Shakopee lake lot. Tap any photo to see it full size.
A member of the Schifsky design team will reach out within one business day.
Prefer to talk now? Call 651-439-0603On a normal lot you can build a patio and worry about the slope later. On a lake lot everything is connected: the walls set the grades, the grades set where the pool and patio can go, the setbacks and impervious limits cap all of it, and the DNR and the city both get a say. Splitting that between a wall contractor, a pool company and a landscaper is how lake projects go over budget and miss a season. We design the whole property in 3D, carry the permits, and build it with one crew that is used to working on a slope above the water.
We walk the lot, measure the grades, find the ordinary high water level and the setbacks, and pull the shoreland rules for your city or county.
Walls, stairs, patio, pool and plantings designed together so you see the yard from the house and from the lake before anything is built.
Shoreland and building permits, DNR review if anything touches the water, and engineered wall designs where height requires them.
Walls and grading first, then stairs and railings, then patio, pool and plantings, with erosion control in place the whole time.
Lighting, lawn and shoreline plantings, and a walkthrough on care, especially for the buffer plantings near the water.
Tiered walls that turn an unusable hill into level lawn and gardens, the way Birchwood Village was done.
Rotting wood walls and stairs demolished and rebuilt in stone or block, the project our western Wisconsin lake clients hired us for. See the timber wall page.
A pool and deck placed inside the setbacks and impervious limits, with the equipment and fence designed in.
Stone or paver stairs with landings and open cable railings so the lake stays in view.
Native plantings and stone at the shore that hold the bank and satisfy the shore impact zone rules.
A fire feature and seating terrace at the lower level so the evening ends at the water.
Rotting timber or railroad-tie walls and stairs demolished, hauled and rebuilt in block, natural stone or boulders.
Learn more →Block, natural stone and boulder walls, with what they cost per square foot of face.
Learn more →Everything around the pool, finished the same season the pool goes in: deck, fence, grading, plantings and lighting.
Learn more →Lake projects are almost always full-property work. Terraced on White Bear Lake was about $400,000 for tiered natural-stone walls, cable railings, stairs to the water, a paver driveway and plantings. The Sustainable Modern in Shakopee was about $380,000 for a fiberglass pool, tiered walls, fire table, steps, fencing, plantings and lighting on a lake lot, phased to fit the budget.
A complete backyard in the Twin Cities generally runs $100,000 to $300,000; lake lots land toward the top because of the walls and the slope. Retaining walls alone run $65 to $120 per square foot of face depending on material, with engineering and permits adding $2,500 to $5,000 on walls over about 4 feet.
We desperately needed an entire demolition and makeover of our stairs and ancient wood Retaining walls at our Western Wisc lake home. We got 3 bids and primarily picked Schifsky because of Brandon. … The workers were amazing and put the plan together perfectly. We have had several of our neighbors on the lake stop by to say how great it looks!
When we first started looking into building an outdoor patio and pool area, we honestly weren’t sure our property would even allow the backyard we were dreaming of. … our project manager, Adam Skowronek, somehow designed something even better than we could have imagined. … Now that everything is complete, we honestly still catch ourselves looking out the window and thinking, “I can’t believe this is our backyard.”
Family-owned for 37+ years, we design and build your project with one accountable team, so the people who plan it are the people who build it, start to finish.
Get a Free QuoteA member of the Schifsky design team will reach out within one business day.
Prefer to talk now? Call 651-439-0603