Carriage House

Citation Award // Excellence in Architecture Design - Residential

Architect // Studio InSitu Architects, Inc.

GC // Mike Logel Builder

Civil Engineer // Ames Associates

Structural Engineer // LALA Associates Engineers

Description

Using some of the language and many of the materials from our clients’ Lake House across the street, the carriage house design responds to its own densely wooded site with a distinctly expressed verticality. Over three large garage bays, new living spaces occupy the volume of a steeply pitched roof. A double-story space connects these living quarters to the ground plane and the woods beyond-and amplifies the sensory richness of vertical circulation. Use of the living space invites inhabitants into a close and varied set of relationships with structural forms and elements-and an emphatic sense of the shelter they provide. Large windows subordinate the human scale to that of the deep woods outside. Vertically stacked windows in the ‘great hall’ frame views of tall white pines. Interior and exterior material and color palates represent a certain ideal of Lakes Region living with a sort-of nourishing nostalgia.

Jury Comments

The Carriage House design exemplifies a harmonious blend of architectural innovation and contextual sensitivity, deserving of a Merit Award. Its sectional organization cleverly integrates a glassy two-story entry and great room,  juxtaposed to private sleeping areas situated above an expansive garage. The deliberate verticality of the structure mirrors the dense woodland setting with hints to the historic main house, while large windows and vertically stacked openings in the 'great hall' frame majestic views of towering white pines, merging interior and exterior spaces. The whole reads modestly in scale and footprint from the exterior. 

Crafted from granite, cedar, Douglas fir, and bold painted trim, the material palette evokes a timeless essence reflective of the Lakes Region, and the pine forest in which it is sited. It stands as a testament to thoughtful design, where every detail—from steep roof pitch and fir structural elements—embodies the essence of a warm, nurturing retreat nestled in the northern woods.

Photo credit: Tim Hess