Belgrade Lakes House
A modern lakeside house that embraces the landscape.
Project Details
Location:
Belgrade Lakes Region, Maine
Structural Architects:
Eric Sokol, Will Winkelman
Builder:
Lane Plissey, LP Homes
Photography:
Eric Sokol
Recognition
Project Requirements
- Connection to the Environment: The design must feel connected to the woods and water, and work with the slope of the site rather than reforming it.
- Preservation of Natural Features: The massive boulders on the site must be preserved, with the home situated to nest among them rather than blasting them away.
- Inverted Plan Design: The main entry of the house should be on the second floor at grade on the uphill side, with primary living spaces on the lower level pushed forward toward the lake.
- Integration with Topography: The lower roofs should be planted and extended back into the hillside, making the house appear to emerge from the landscape.
- Seamless Indoor-Outdoor Flow: Primary living spaces must flow outside with a single step, providing lake views under the canopy of the trees.
- Daylight Maximization: A tall, glazed stairwell should link the two levels and flood daylight into the rear spaces nested into the hillside.
Design Concepts
The inverted plan has the main entry of the house on the second floor, just at grade on the uphill side, and the primary living spaces on the lower level. These are pushed forward toward the lake so that they sit low on the ground and flow outside with a single step, with lake views under the canopy of the trees.
A tall, glazed stairwell links the two levels together and floods daylight into the rear spaces that are nested into the hillside. To further blend the house into the topography, all of the lower roofs are planted and extended back into the hillside so that the house appears to be emerging from the landscape, rather than piled on top of it.
Challenges
On this steep sloping and rocky site along a pond in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine, the challenge was to create something that felt connected to the woods and water and that works into the slope of the site rather than reforming it.
Everywhere about the site are massive boulders, left by receding glaciers thousands of years ago and now covered with moss and ferns. Instead of blasting them into pieces and hauling them away, the home was situated to nest among them and look into them.
