BEACH HOUSE LAKE HOUSE
This project, set in Skaneateles, NY on the shore of the Finger Lakes, was designed for a retired Syracuse professor who lived alone and collected art. The goal of this design was to create a cozy environment that concentrates on the surrounding natural landscape and presenting its beauty as art itself. The long blank walls along the street side of the house allow for a space the owner could curate and display their collected works. This also creates privacy and a sense of separation of the house from the public street outside. As you move towards the back of the house, which overlooks the yard and out to the lake beyond, the house includes more windows culminating in walls that are mostly glass, that focus the inhabitant on the beautiful landscape outside.
In order to work with the slope condition that the site presented, the house and yard have been manipulated to step down at consistant intervals creating a system of terraces uniting the interior and exterior spaces. The house and property also employ an axial condition that creates both a public axis, from entrance to the guests qurters, as well as a private axis connecting the master suite upstairs to the water below.
The second level is a completely private space. The whole second floor is dedicated to a Master Suite with clerestory windows that allow the space to feel open and bright while maintaining a sense of privacy.
The house also includes a number of balconies and porches to allude to the terraced property outside. On the first floor the back of the house opens up to the outdoors with large windows and doors that bring you out to porches that continue to step down to the yard. This allows for a transition between the interior and exterior to be a gradual transiton rather than a harsh partition. The balconies on the second floor create cozy private spaces for the owner to enjoy.
