Lakeside Residence

From its origins under the boughs of mature Cedars to a conclusion at the shoreline, a stylized Northwest stream is used as a narrative thread to weave together relationships between built forms and nature.

Evolving along its path, the stream connects architecture, human use and nature to create engaging and purposeful spaces. The removal of a bulkhead allows the stream to support lush plant life as it completes its journey onto a newly created beach.

ASLA Finalist, 2013, Professional Residential Design Category

01

House Entry at Daybreak. Arbors, reclaimed timbers and milestone blocks extend the reach of architecture into the landscape and, here, lead the eye to the front door. Native woodland plantings press up against this edge in the foreground.

02

Broad steps descending to the residence entry bisect the abstract stream feature. From its origins deeper into the image, the stream drops from a granite ledgestone onto the black granite slab.

03

Originating under the boughs of native cedars, the stream evolves, here, becoming an architectural expression: an accent at the margin between the woodland and the cobble field.

04

Native maidenhair ferns luxuriate by the entry. As a designer using natural and built elements, I want both components to be in a strong and thoughtful partnership.

05

Flowing away from the more formal lines of the entry, the stream reappears in natural form, percolating through the extensive cobble. Milestone blocks are used as architectural elements and create a tension between house and landscape.

06

Pools and Riffles. On its journey to the beach, the stream slows as it pools up against the side terrace. Sedge, wild strawberry, and Sisyrinchium have become established in the cobble.

07

Streamside Still Life. In this composition, architectural elements, terracing, boulders, and plant life are bound together by water.

Sauk River, Washington

08

‘Landscape Cobble’ — a ubiquitous ground-plane treatment in the northwest — is frequently divorced from its relationship to water. The Lakeside Residence re-asserts this connection. Linked to a side door, the bridge has become the favorite house entry for its owners.

09

The side terrace noses into the path of the stream deflecting it around a seating arrangement for two. To the left, water appears as an abstraction again, here, functioning as a small dipping pool.

10

A convergence of planes, pebbles, and plants at the pool edge.

11

On the main terrace, materials and uses are juxtaposed. The stainless steel fire feature creates a focus for nearby alfresco dining, while the small dipping pool provides an opportunity for bathing on a hot day.

12

The new shoreline stands as an anomaly in the area. With the removal of a bulkhead, wave action is attenuated. Underwater plant life is able to reestablish, fish can swim in calmer shallows, and ducks can clamber ashore.

13

Purposefully, a portion of the bulkhead was retained and adapted. Clad in earth-toned concrete panels, its clean outline creates a pleasing relationship with loose plantings and the cobble shoreline.

14

Reveling in the damp conditions at the plunge pool, the parasol leaves of Washington native Darmera peltatum contrast with the finer textures of willow-leaf Amsonia.

15

A thin stainless steel hardwood platform creates a perch above the new shoreline. Plantings show a progression from natives along the shore to well adapted ornamentals near the residence.