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David Mitchell

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Bau Buffet TROSCAN DESIGN + FURNISHINGS

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Astrid Dining Table TROSCAN DESIGN + FURNISHINGS

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Recognized for their expertise in seamlessly blending architecture and interiors to create captivating environments, Daniel Joseph Chenin was commissioned by a repeat client to realize their vision for a new lakefront residence on the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene in Harrison, Idaho.

In partnership with renowned New York architect Hart Howerton, the firm led the comprehensive interior design efforts, including custom detailing, furnishings, artwork curation, lighting, and accessories. This collaboration resulted in a cohesive and sophisticated lake retreat that embodies the studio’s signature approach to creating immersive and thoughtfully curated spaces.

photo_credit David Mitchell — David Mitchell

Inspired by nature

On a scouting trip to visit the proposed site, Chenin was struck by the natural beauty of the environment, with a majestic hillside punctuated with evergreen trees framing a tranquil lake embraced by surrounding wilderness. The firm also recognized the logistical and design challenges posed by the rugged terrain, including seasonal elements that characterize the local community as a summer-specific destination.

“The home is clad in reclaimed wood, with knobby imperfections that give it a rough and ready exterior that blends into the natural context,” explains Chenin. “It also responds to the harsh off-season climate by being fitted with a metal roof and Corten steel garage doors for much-needed protection against ice and heavy snow.”

Working together with the couple on multiple residences since 2016, Chenin leveraged a preestablished and essential relationship of trust and understanding. The interior design process centered on unravelling the client’s notion of a mountain retreat that would feel contextual, but with an air of infused luxury. In terms of the latter, the client coveted a warm and welcoming home that was soft and refined, yet smart in its material durability.

Blurring the lines

The seamlessly blended rustic exterior gives way to a more refined interior, softened by its immaculate detailing and thoughtfully designed furnishings. Colors, finishes, and materials, including leathers, hides, iron, steel, marble, and a variety of wood species were inspired by the external surroundings. Sourced and custom-designed furniture exudes a variety of textures, anchored by area rugs with patterns that thoughtfully emulate sequences of the natural environment, such as fallen leaves on the forest floor. Another area rug features leather inlays that convey a sense of binding natural hides together.

“It’s a typical getaway house in terms of its ruggedness, robustness, and simplicity,” notes Chenin. “Our challenge was to carry those features into the interior, while softening and smoothening the edges.”

Ambiance by design

The home’s rather simple layout includes a main level containing a kitchen with an expansive pantry, a living room, a dining room, an entry foyer, a mudroom, and a primary bedroom that is secluded from the otherwise open floorplan. A second primary bedroom suite with a kitchenette fills the home’s second level. A below-grade first floor, embedded into the hillside and featuring a walkout terrace, houses three additional guest bedrooms centered around a large living room hub that connects them.

An abundance of diverse materials bond through their thoughtful placement, including a simple utilitarian stool with a leather throw and nubby boucle texture, backdropped by a large, hand-carved cabinet with an intentionally laid bronze door. Light fixtures are simple and effective, and refined barstools feature durable leather finishes. Counterbalancing the home’s utilitarian elements, rich and luxurious materials provide an infusion of warmth and comfort, including Calacatta marble in the kitchen and bathrooms, oak flooring, and unlacquered bronze handles and hardware throughout the home.

“The bronze hardware will patina and weather over time through touch and exposure to the air,” explains Chenin. “Numerous finishes and details of this project are reflections of elements present in the surrounding natural environment, and we succeeded in replicating their shapes and textures.”

The home offers a wide variety of tactile experiences. Exposed wooden ceiling beams, artwork lining the walls that depicts natural scenes, and the organic patterns of the furnishings further ground the design within its environmental context. So do the carved wooden legs of the home’s custom-built furniture pieces, as well as a steel tabletop replicating the internal rings of a tree trunk, and a live edge desk in the upstairs secondary suite.

Balance and scale

The floorplan of the main level resulted in a rather unusually long room. Challenging from a layout perspective, Chenin custom designed a massive credenza to anchor the space. The steel-plated credenza features simple handles and raw wood with grainy patterns, but has a refined finish that gives it a polished look.

Throughout the home, Chenin’s positioning of custom pieces provides balance, versatility, and functionality. Each of the designs invoke the surrounding environment, with live edge wood kept from splitting by metal bowties, and steel reinforcement wraps binding wooden legs and bases together.

“There is an overall visual to the design, and then there’s abundant discovery of nuance as the materials and the finishes come together,” notes Chenin. “It’s utilitarian in its simplicity, yet very smart in its subtlety, with proportions and forms that are highly refined.”