Beach Archives - Berneche2 Architecture

Second story addition with a gable roof 90-degrees from normal

Timothy Berneche — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 11:16:58 +0000

Click on the above image to bring up the complete gallery of images by Tom Fitzsimmons Photography For images to properly load, leave this page open for at least ten seconds before clicking on the images for the portfolio to show up.

This was a vertical addition to a house a few lots south of Lake Michigan. A city ordinance requires new roofs to be perpendicular to the lake to help improve views opposite the lake, and because the city wants boaters and beachcombers to see gable roofs. The house and original roof were oriented parallel to the lake. For the new roof to run perpendicular created a structural challenge, solved by framing the roof with flat I-joists parallel to the roof slope to transfer loads to the exterior walls, eliminating the need for beams to support traditional rafters.

Little work was planned for the main house level, but of course removing the roof meant that timing of the construction had to be just right. Unfortunately this builder was very incompetent and far more rain and snow infiltrated the house than should had. They took off the roof and THEN questioned out structural approach, but eventually accepted it and proceeded but not before stopping for two rainy and snowy spring months. Fortunately for final details the original builder was let go and a lot of issues corrected. Floors had to be refinished due to the water damage.

All photos of the interior are of the upper level addition. The original chimney we intended to keep and extend had to be redone also as it was improperly installed. One enters the upper level through an office from a stair in the existing vaulted ceiling kitchen. A door leads to the vaulted ceiling master bedroom with the north wall filled with windows facing Lake Michigan, and the south wall having doors to the master bath and closet. The master bath has an open Roman Shower. A small roof deck provides a great view to Lake Michigan over adjacent houses.

The final three images show the existing house and construction: the street side front, the unusable finished attic, and the last photo being a view of the gable roof framing during construction, showing I-joists parallel to the roof slope with furring below for drywall.

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Spacious Lake Michigan Beach House

jeking — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 23:21:11 +0000

Click on the above image to bring up the complete gallery of images. Photos by Grant Poormon Photography

This house is unique in that it was designed to be shared by three families, so the upper level features five bedrooms, three master suites facing the lake, and one boys bedroom and girls bedroom each facing the street. The client initially wanted to keep the house at 5,500 square feet but seeing that having five bedrooms upstairs would generate a lot of area, the gross area is 8,900 square feet including the garage.

A guest bedroom is also available on the main level. The living and dining room feature an operable curtain wall system that allows these spaces to literally open to the beach and the lake views. There is a two-sided fireplace between the living and dining areas. The kitchen exterior wall has an angle toward the views of Chicago, which also helps reduce the house area and lets the kitchen feel it opens up to the rest of the main level.

The sloping dunes and foundation requirements usually result in garages with basements. Here the under-garage basement became a theater room, which was perfect in that concrete walls are great at absorbing sound.

The families decided to sell it after seven years and the realtor created a fantastic video to move it: https://youtu.be/8trJkfj3TBM

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Modern Michigan Makeover

jeking — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 22:21:59 +0000

Click on the above image to bring up the complete gallery of images. Photos by Berneche2 Architecture

Existing two-story home on Lake Michigan in SW Michigan. The client wanted to preserve the upper level master bedroom and convert the two bedrooms on this level into a master suite. The two-story portion had a crawl space and the one-story part had a full basement. The crawl space was converted to a full basement, and the original basement was lowered another four inches to improve ceiling height. Egress windows and wells were provided to allow for two bedrooms in the basement.

The roof of the one-story portion was modified enough to where this part of the house was fully demolished and rebuilt as the vaulted ceilings and scissor trusses used could not be supported by the old structure. The large balcony facing the lake that served two bedrooms was reduced by half to serve the single bedroom on this level.

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