As great patrons of the arts, the owners were open-minded participants in the design process. A prolific art collection was to be highlighted by strategically placed walls gathering light directly from the lake to the two-story spaces and indirectly through a continuous translucent roof panel from entry to lake long and linear.

The bold wedge-shaped form of this new private residence was inspired by the impact of the site. The property boundaries form a dramatic sloped wedge with fifty feet of frontage at the street and thirty-three feet of lake frontage. The house follows the site form in both plan and three dimensions with the lines of the barrel-vaulted roof tipping and converging to a focal point out in the lake. The roof structure is supported by eight arched beams, each with a smaller radius as they move closer toward the lake. Each beam is tipped forward at the same 4% angle as the south property line. Cables attached at the base of one arch and the top of the forward arch keep the beams from “falling” forward. The converging lines reinforce the dramatic views of the lake with the west facing curtain wall allowing vision from all levels.

The interiors were designed to be minimal and light-filled, including many built-ins designed to maintain the clean feel while being specifically functional for a relatively small floor plan. The Pixi blue elevator shaft, expresses the vertical connection of the three levels along with a steel staircase. The stair is screened to the south with a wood basket-weave guardrail which allows light to filter into the stairway.

ARCHITECT: Swanson Meads Architects
CONTRACTOR: Piku
PHOTOGRAPHER: Balthazr Korab (night shot)
PHOTOGRAPHER: Beth Singer