PROJECT REVEAL
A House Built for
All Generations
In Michigan, you're never more than twenty minutes from water. Lake houses are just part of who we are here, and I should know. I grew up going to a cottage my grandfather built in the 1950s, and I've been going back my whole life. You see the cousins you grew up with and everyone picks up right where they left off.
So when a couple asked us to design a new build on Lake Michigan, I understood exactly what they were after. Their kids are grown and out on their own now and they were looking to create the family homestead. The place everyone comes back to for the holidays and the long summer weekends, where the grandkids will run around and nobody will think twice about the finishes.
That idea shaped every single decision. We leaned into materials that only get better as they're lived in, nothing precious, nothing you'd be afraid to put a wet bathing suit near. A house that feels like its environment, where you step outside and you're at the beach. Kick your shoes off and don't worry about the sand.
Here's how it came together.
A Kitchen That Works as Hard as It Looks
This family loves good food and loves to entertain, so the kitchen had to be beautiful and genuinely easy to live in. No fuss.
We ran natural wood along the perimeter, because if it gets nicked or mellows in the sun, that only adds to the warmth. The island wears a soft light blue to lift the whole room, since on the lake, blue is always the answer. And we worked a run of butcher block into one end of the island, for the way this family actually cooks. It's the kind of kitchen people drift into and don't leave.
The Beams
(Our Little Secret)
People keep asking where the ceiling beams came from, and honestly, that was almost our little secret. So, revealed: they were pulled out of dismantled buildings in downtown Grand Rapids. Well over a hundred years old, every one of them. What you see is what you get, nothing faked and nothing dressed up. We installed them exactly as they came to us.
They do more work than almost anything else in the house. The second you walk in, they tell you this is a casual, inviting place. That's the whole job of a lake house, and the beams say it without a word.
Pattern, With a Point of View
People know me for mixing pattern, but the real work happens before any of it goes on a wall. I put a lot in front of a client, we figure out what's hot and what's not and what we genuinely love, and then I become the editor.
The breakfast nook told me everything. The Schumacher fabric on the bench was an early, absolute yes from my client, and that's when I knew we could push the envelope, bring in patterns that are joyful, that have a little nature in them, that aren't shy. The laundry room is where we really let loose: a Josef Frank butterfly print I've loved for years, run up the walls, across the ceiling, and into the curtain. Most people would never go for it, which is exactly why it works. If you're going to go big, go all over.
Art That Keeps a Secret
The three paintings in the hallway to the primary bedroom look like art. They are. They're also storage.
Each one was commissioned and personal. The first is the jar of beach glass this family has collected on the shores of Lake Michigan for years. The second is one of the cars he's restored, the ones they take to parades. The third is hummingbirds, a little cheeky, since we all know they love their sugar. And then the part you don't see coming: each painting is mounted on a door that opens to fully upholstered storage behind it. Jewelry, scarves, ties, all of it tucked away behind a piece of art no one else in the world has.
This is my favorite kind of project, where you bring in artists, connect them with the client, and make something nobody can ever copy.
Rustic and refined, in one room. That mix is the whole house, but it lands hardest here.
We paired wood cabinetry with sliding doors against marble with gorgeous movement, run up tall as a backsplash. The wall-mounted faucets are unlacquered brass from Waterworks, and if you look closely they almost read like a piece of stone, so they tie right back to the water and the landscape outside. They'll patina over time, which is exactly the point. Then the blue-green tile wraps the whole room until it almost feels like water. A real respite.
A Primary Bath Like Water
Bunk Bed Heaven
I'm a little jealous of this room, I'll admit it.
We designed the bunks, the dresser, and all the storage built into the beds, with a porthole detail for good measure. Behind the wall there's a second set of bunks, so the room sleeps up to six grandkids. The flooring is reclaimed barn wood, and wherever a board turned up with a streak of old red or blue paint still on it, we left it. Don't take the color out, ever. Wallpaper on the ceiling adds a little whimsy. A kids' room done to perfection, and one they'll never want to leave.
Nautical, With a Light Hand
A lake house doesn't need oars on the wall. A hint, here and there, goes a long way.
In one room we went deep navy against distressed leather, with a boat wheel and a croc-embossed side table, layered detail by detail until it felt like it was always there. In the guest room it's a Phillip Jeffries grasscloth pinstripe that feels like sand underfoot, with a rope motif worked quietly into the fabric. It's the difference between telling someone they're at the lake and letting them feel it. We'd always rather they feel it.
Downstairs, Where the House Lets Loose
The lower level is pure fun. A run of sofas around a huge center ottoman facing the screen, walls and ceiling wrapped in reclaimed wood, polished concrete underfoot. By the pool table we built a banquette for puzzles and pizza, plus a second kitchenette with a fridge and sink so nobody has to run upstairs.
The sliding door down here was a find. The clients came across it while they were out antiquing, so we put it on a track and made it work. And the green built-in might be my favorite color in the whole house.
None of this was ever really about the finishes. It was about building a place a family grows into for forty years, the parents, then the kids, then the grandkids, then the friends, and on it goes. That's the beauty of designing these homes. You can see straight through to the legacy.
See you at the cottage.
Dreaming about a place on the water of your own?
Book a complimentary call and let's talk.
FURTHER READING
