The property for this home is located on 215’ of due west frontage on Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. The topography ranges from 578’ at the lake rising quickly to a high point of 613’. The clients expressed a desire for a vacation home place traditional in style if not transitional and requested that the rooms follow the path of the sun. To follow this but also take inspiration from the site a traditional gabled form was used in the initial concept but sliced into three pieces to manipulate the mass around the site and respect the landscape. The northern piece is curved to follow the line of the highest dune while the other two pieces are manipulated to capture the views. A swath of earth is cut out to allow access to the lower level within the southern piece.

The kitchen and dining area or morning room are contained in this southern most piece to enjoy the morning sun and the master suite above provides a southern view of the morning sun glinting off the water. The living area is a thirty-foot high room with walls of glass to the south and west framing the evening sunsets. The client’s office and guest rooms are contained in the curved piece with the office having a view to the north. A patio connects the main level of the house to a small outbuilding partway down the dunes toward the lake containing a Finnish sauna with boat storage below.

ARCHITECT: Swanson Meads Architects
CONTRACTOR: Brown Schroeder
PHOTOGRAPHER: Coldwell Banker