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At one with nature
At one with nature from Home & Living Trends volume 2109
Vacations can be wonderful opportunities for extended families and friends to get together and relax. Sometimes, however, what's really needed is a quiet weekend away on your own, without children or grandchildren.
The owners of this lakeside vacation home say they wanted a small retreat where they could go and feel refreshed and renewed, but which was also large enough to accommodate their extended family.
They found a site by a lake and approached architect Jim Nagle, whose own vacation home they had seen and admired.
"We wanted a house that we could use all year round, and that was completely different to our city home, which is very traditional. We wanted lots of light, and enough space for our adult children and eight grandchildren," says one of the owners.
Nagle says because the property slopes down towards the lake it made sense to build a two-story home.
"This enabled us to design a house that didn't feel too big and didn't appear to dominate the surrounding environment – but had plenty of space."
The upper level is a self-contained space for the owners, with a front entrance, a large living, dining and kitchen area, open and screen porches and the master bedroom and bathroom. Full-height, pivoting, swing doors separate the bedroom and living area, so when the owners have guests, the bedroom can be separated from the living area.
Down a flight of stairs from the front entry are three bedrooms, a bathroom, bunkroom, recreation room, and more open and screen porches, making a second, self-contained area for visitors.
"When the owners stay here on their own, they can live comfortably in the smaller upper level. The way the house is designed, they don't need to go downstairs at all," says the architect.
With its rectangular design and almost flat roof, the house is contemporary in style. A separate two-story garage balances the house on the far side of the site. It is as deep as the house and provides garaging at road level for cars and a boat. The basement level is accessed from the lake side of the property, and provides storage for kayaks and other boating paraphernalia.
To create privacy from the road, the front and side walls of the house have few windows. Instead, the design incorporates skylights and narrow clerestory windows that can be opened for ventilation and to bring light into both levels of the house.
On both levels of the house, windows and French doors open up onto screen and open porches, making a strong connection between the house and the lake. The two screen porches upstairs are separated by an open porch, increasing the effective size of the living areas.
A decision was made to use natural, locally available materials as much as possible, both on the exterior and interior.
Exterior walls are clad in clear-stained cedar, while locally quarried limestone is used for stepping stones and walkways around the property and for fireplaces inside the house.
Inside, the floor is hickory, and ceilings are lined with local maple. Cabinetry throughout the house is also maple, and slate is used on countertops and other hard surfaces.
"Because the house is not large, the interior has been detailed very carefully," says Nagle.
For example, to ensure the basement area feels like a regular house, open bookcases line the side of the staircase leading down from the entry. These add interest and bring light into the lower level.
Soft, muted colors on walls and modern furnishings, using natural woods and fabrics, ensure the interior always feels restful and welcoming.
This vacation home was designed by architect Jim Nagle to be a private retreat for its owners. The lower level of the house provides additional space where extended family and friends can stay.
Full-height doors and windows make the nearby lake feel even closer. Open and screen porches extend the size of the usable living spaces.
The kitchen opens onto one of the home's screen porches. Wood and furnishings in natural fabrics are part of the theme of the house.
The large living area features a fireplace made from limestone taken from a local quarry. Behind the fireplace, the bedroom can be closed off with floor-to-ceiling, pivoting, swing doors.
A wood-lined ceiling and floors, and walls painted in muted, neutral tones create a calm and peaceful atmosphere in the main living area. To the left, an open-shelf bookcase lines the staircase leading down to the basement, allowing light to filter into this area.
The bunkroom provides a great space for the grandchildren to sleep.
The house and garage are similar in proportion, creating a sense of balance across the property. The open and screen porches are configured differently on the two levels. Upstairs the screen porches are on each end of the terrace with an open porch in the center, while downstairs the open porches are on each end and the screen porch is in the middle.
The scale of the house allows it to blend easily into the surrounding trees. On the front wall, clerestory windows guard the home's privacy without loss of light or ventilation.
1 master bath, 2 walk-in closet, 3 foyer, 4 powder room, 5 shower, 6 mud room, 7 kitchen, 8 living/dining room, 9 master bedroom, 10 screen porch, 11 open porch, 12 garage.
Credit List
Architect and kitchen designer
:
Nagle Hartray Danker Kagan Mckay Penney Architects, AIA (Chicago, IL)
Builder
:
Design Specialty Builders
Home audio
:
Audio Plus
Oven, cooktop, ventilation
:
Dacor
Bathroom vanity cabinetry
:
Crystal Cabinets
Faucets and shower fittings
:
Grohe
Bathroom floor
:
Vermont slate
Photography by Bruce Van Inwegen
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