What was the brief?
The brief was to create a multigenerational summer home for a large family who entertains often.The house is 6,000 square feet but it’s quite deceptive in scale, which was the intention.The clients wanted the house to nestle into the surrounding landscape and look like it had been there for years. It is an open plan concept - the thought was to be able to have everyone in their large family in the same space at the same time (dining room, living room, bar and kitchen). The neighbors are their family as well, so they often have large dinner parties and easily entertain 30 plus people on any given night.It would not be uncommon for them to have 15 people at the house over a weekend - it was built to hold that many on a normal weekend for them. They love to enjoy themselves and have fun,and since it’s a lake house,the primary focus is to relax and entertain so there is a gorgeous bar right off the entry that overlooks the living room. The bar can easily seat 8 people so it has a dual function as an additional dining surface.
The house has three floors.It was designed for entertaining at the lake and family and friends being together. On the main floor (with the kitchen, dining and living room) is one guest suite, as well as the wrap around patiosand screened in porch with a fireplace. There is also a guest cottage above the garage that is a separate bedroom and bath with a bit more privacy. The upstairs level is one large primary suite - her studio, his office, the primary bedroom and his and her baths. Downstairs is the bunk room for all of the grandkids, a nursery for the grand babies, two more guest bedrooms, a large living room for the kids with their own kitchenette, and more outdoor living and dining spaces.
What were the key challenges?
I think the biggest challenge was that we started at the height of the pandemic so the lead times and things were still so crazy. The house is also relatively compact for the square footage - we fit a lot into the overall footprint of the house. There were a couple of trees that the clients absolutely wanted to save because they loved how the tree canopy would drape over the outdoor living space, and frame their view of the lake. The trees were so old and beautiful that they refused to cut them down. So there was really only so much space we could take up with the house, which created a bit of a challenge to make each space feel really intentional and get the biggest bang for our buck in each room without them feeling overstuffed. And then that they have 5 grand kids - little ones, the oldest being 6 and the youngest being a newborn, so we focused on what the client called “defensive decorating” we used indoor/outdoor fabrics on a lot of the indoor upholstery pieces, a lot of leather that can be easily wiped off and that the stains and scratches will just add character to, and didn’t incorporate anything that felt too precious - besides the marble in the kitchen, which we all loved the idea of it showing patina and life - showing the wine glass etchings to them was showing the markings of memories in the house. We also incorporated a lot of pattern in the dining room chairs to help hide stains, the counter stools at the kitchen island are an African outdoor teak, things like that.
What materials did you choose and why?
We used a zellige tile all over the kitchen and prep kitchen hoods because when the light hit the tiles it reminded us of the reflection of the sun on the water, which I loved. We chose a Honed Calacatta Crema marble in the kitchen and the prep kitchen - we loved the gorgeous rust markings and the golden and warm creamy tones of the stone. And then we opted for so much white oak - the entire kitchen, scullery/prep kitchen, and bar are wrapped in it. There is a hidden door in the kitchen wrapped in the white oak that leads to the second kitchen (which has a full range, cook top, dishwasher, sink, so calling it a scullery doesn’t do it justice I don’t think) We did this because we wanted the warmth of the natural white oak. All of the cabinetry have a planked style because we felt it lended really nicely to the rustic, cottage feel that we were trying to create. The bar is made to look like an antique English piece with rubbed legs and a copper foot rail and the top cabinets have a thick glass that also reflects light really beautifully. We wanted to create warmth and mimic these gorgeous elements of nature on the property.
Team:
Interior design: Of Place Studio
Architect: Michael Abraham
Styling: Brittany Albert
Photo Credits: Nicole Franzen
Material Used:
1. Flooring: White Oak, site finished, custom stain
2. Windows: Marvin Windows
3. Interior lighting: Vintage Danish Modern pieces, Workstead, Urban Electric, RTO Lighting
4. Interior furniture: Verellen, Nickey Kehoe, Community MFG, Vintage
