How an Accidental Shower Window Became the Starting Point for This Minnesota Lake Home

Before building his 4,700-square-foot lake house on Prior Lake in Minnesota, Lance Anderson spent two years living in the original 70-year-old home that occupied the property. The house itself was destined for demolition, but one small detail stayed with him long after he decided to rebuild: a frosted window tucked inside the shower.

The window wasn’t intentional. At some point during a previous renovation, the bathroom had been reconfigured around an existing window, creating an imperfect but unexpectedly beautiful experience of showering in natural light.

That feeling of being immersed in light while still connected to the landscape outside quietly became the conceptual foundation for the entire rebuild—and what would ultimately lead Anderson to CLiC, a smart glass innovation from Cardinal Glass Industries that shifts windows from clear to private in seconds. "I just started getting accustomed to having that natural light with me as I was getting ready in the morning," Anderson says.

Set on a narrow point surrounded by nearly 270 degrees of water views, the property offered a rare opportunity to create a home that felt fully immersed in the lake. Anderson immediately envisioned expansive glazing and open sightlines, but he also knew he didn’t want the result to feel cold or overly minimal. "I didn’t want a box," he says. 

While working alongside Murphy & Co Design and Mikan Custom Homes, Anderson developed a residence that balances contemporary architecture with a warmer, more tactile material palette inspired by mountain homes in Montana and the American West.

Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the water from nearly every room, while textured stone, reclaimed wood, and dark steel-inspired detailing soften the sharper edges of the architecture. The finished home feels less like a traditional glass house and more like an organic extension of the landscape. "We were trying to bridge the gap between inside and outside," Anderson adds.  

That philosophy shaped not only the architecture, but also how the home approached privacy. When the architects proposed 10-foot-tall windows in the primary bathroom shower, Anderson loved the idea immediately, but practical concerns quickly followed. "What happens if I don’t feel like being an exhibitionist that day?" he jokes.

Traditional solutions like shades or permanently frosted glass felt too limiting and outdated for a home so deeply connected to its views. Instead, Anderson wanted the flexibility to preserve openness without permanently sacrificing light or visibility. Discovering CLiC enabled Anderson and his team to open up new design possibilities for how glass and technology could work together throughout the home.

Integrated into the home’s automation system, CLiC allows Anderson to instantly create privacy with the tap of a button, even from inside the shower itself. "It creates opportunities in design that you wouldn’t otherwise be willing to deal with," he says.

More importantly, the technology allowed the home to maintain one of its defining characteristics: uninterrupted natural light. Unlike traditional frosted glass or applied films, the CLiC panels preserve clarity when transparent and diffuse light softly when engaged, without dramatically darkening the space. "It’s not about stopping the light," Anderson says. "It’s about obscuring you and creating a level of privacy instantly."

That emphasis on light extends throughout the home. Clerestory windows and double-height glazing pull daylight deep into the interiors, while layered lighting systems mimic the changing warmth of the sun throughout the day. At twilight, indirect LEDs wash textured stone walls and reclaimed wood surfaces, allowing the home to shine outward toward the lake. "The house kind of starts to glow from the inside out," Anderson says.

The material palette plays an equally important role in grounding the architecture. Reclaimed wood and stone used on the exterior reappears throughout the interiors, reinforcing the connection between the home and its surroundings.

Stone walls in the primary suite and bathroom are illuminated from above to emphasize their texture, while geometric window grids introduce structure and warmth to the expansive glass, making it feel more traditional and cozier. Anderson spent months obsessing over window proportions and mullion sizes to ensure the views remained as uninterrupted as possible.

Even the more personal details remain tied to the landscape. In the powder room, a custom stone sink carved into the exact shape of Prior Lake includes a small, illuminated marker pinpointing the home’s exact location along the shoreline.

Outside, a floating dock and screened structure extend the indoor/outdoor experience even further, allowing the family to spend time directly above the water long after sunset.

For Anderson, who shares the home with his two teenage daughters, the project was never about creating a showpiece. It was about building a home that could fully embrace the landscape around it while still feeling warm, livable, and deeply personal.

And in many ways, it all traces back to that accidental shower window in the original house: a small moment of light and much-needed privacy that eventually became the guiding principle for an entirely new way of living on the lake.

Explore more about the technology behind CLiC smart glass and its applications in residential design at clicglass.com.

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This Switchable Smart Glass Is the Next Generation of Privacy for Your Home