Click on the above image to bring up the complete gallery of images.  Photos by Tom Fitzsimmons Photography. Drone work by Indoor Drone Tours.

New four-level modern house on Lake Michigan, five bedrooms and a modernist’s dream come true.  Which was certainly the case for client and architect alike.  The project had a long storied and fascinating history. The client initially approached us with an existing two-story home they wanted to renovate and add on an upper floor man cave. Then they decided to buy the house next door and connect the two.

An awkwardly written local zoning ordinance made the addition and renovation plans difficult and the owner decided to tear down and start anew.  The man cave ended up being more a penthouse with a roof deck.  The flat (low-slope) roofs allowed us to maximize the 27-foot height restriction and having the front entrance step down three steps and making the house split-level at the upper two levels got everything to fit, pushing the envelope of the height limit.

The client achieved their dream of a modernist home like the many examples they admired along the second coast become a reality in their Midwest environs along the third coast of Lake Michigan.

Four years after its completion, the client had us modify a street side bedroom to have a larger bath area by incorporating an outdoor deck into the house.  We also added a trellis over the garage to enhance the modern aesthetic.

Dynamic modern house that maximizes the available footprint and heights, design done in conjunction with AvroKO Design.  The challenge was that the client wanted a lot of house on a tight site.  Zoning allowed for 35% maximum lot coverage and cantilevers to both the house and deck were utilized to keep the footprint here but allow the house to max out the living space.  The brow at the front entrance also pushes the envelope for architectural features allowed in a front yard setback yet complies.

The master suite on the top level features a skylight over a soaker tub.  We specified a translucent skylight for the drone age to allow natural light while still maintaining privacy.  A curtain wall window system was used along the lake windows, and while true mitered glass was preferred, we insisted on an angled corner mullion to hold up to the lake’s gale force winds.  A raised bank of clerestory windows allows natural light to come in to the interior and down the open stair in the house’s center.