Designing the perfect greenhouse for a modern home.

Location: Minnetonka, MN
Designer: Conservatory Craftsmen
Architect: Craft Design Build – Nathaniel Tollefson AIA
Category: Greenhouse
Materials: Powdercoated Aluminum

The owners of this home have a passion for cooking, and wanted to be able to grow their own organic vegetables – to always have fresh ingredients on-hand, even through the frigid Minnesota winters. More than just a heated glass room to grow potted plants in, we helped them dream big to create a top-of-the-line modern greenhouse, complete with soil-less planting and full automation features.

The roof design is deceptively complex. We had the architechtural issues of joining the linkway from the garage to the main compartment – which mean the glass was intersected at a unusual angle. Then when the owners told us they didn’t want any traditional cresting on their roof, we had the added conundrum of how to keep birds off the roof. That issue led us to contacting bird behavioural experts, and coming up with a flat ribbing that is just the right shape to prevent birds from wanting to land on it. And we must say, it has worked exceptionally well!

The majority of plants in this modern greenhouse are soil-less, and we designed custom water resevoir systems to automatically water them – making upkeep a breeze! We have the room conditions controlled through our AI monitoring system. So in order to keep the temperature and humidity settings we’ve programed in, it will automatically open or close the windows and blinds and will conditionally use the split AC/heat unit. It took a little bit of getting to for the owners, as this was a completely new way to garden – but when it was all said and done, it was well worth the effort to learn it all. This is one greenhouse that can almost take care of itself!