BLUFftop
The design of this recently completed lakefront home confronts and embraces a series of stark contrasts.
While grand in concept, intimately scaled details and spaces define its DNA. What might be at risk of monumentality was designed to be innately humane.
Upon stepping foot inside the main entry, intersecting east-west and north-south paths of circulation establish a sense of order and comprehension. That rigor is then relaxed and blurred. Walls and doors amongst the public areas are limited to allow one space to informally flow into the next.
Generous expanses of glass and manipulation of the site’s topography erode the boundaries between inside/out and land/water. A solid wall fronts the approach to the house. Its gates open to expose a private motor court but also shockingly transparent views through the house to Lake Michigan beyond.
The material palette was kept intentionally modest - common oak, cold rolled steel, western red cedar, painted lap siding, patinated zinc, simple yet resilient ceramic and porcelain. These materials were then combined and detailed with careful intent, befitting the character of the home. That said, the details and materials speak softly to avoid overshadowing the magnificent land and water beyond.
The home’s classic gables and shingle style skin recognize neighboring landmark estates designed by the likes of David Adler, Robert Seyfarth, and Charles Bernard Shaw. With that historic acknowledgment established, a series of gestures such as a pair of chimneys that boldly slash through the principal roof subvert convention, firmly planting the house in the contemporary age.
