Chicago Northshore, IL
Lake House with Court is a modern metaphor of the division between the man-made and the natural. On a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, the house responds to the beauty and bluster of the lake by creating two worlds. A three-story rectangle facing the lake is oriented towards the sunrise, water, and changing views, while a strong, curved, three-foot-thick brick façade faces inward toward a courtyard that captures the sun’s warmth, offering respite from the harsh lakefront weather.
Very little of Lake House with Court is visible from the street. The house subverts the traditional suburban pattern of front yard, front facade, and garage. It circular courtyard, separated from the road by a garden wall, replaces the normally open and unused front yard with a private exterior landscape. The design unfolds as a series of layers, where the seasons and weather are as much a part of the experience as the normal activities of daily life.
