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Architects: Alchemy Architects
- Area: 2400 m²
- Year: 2016
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Photographs:Geoffrey Warner
Text description provided by the architects. The Cumberland weeHouse is a year-round lakeside retreat for a family of four and their guests. The sloped, wooded lot provides a foil for the weeHouse’s elegant, horizontal form, its strong, overhanging roof, and the accompanying lakeside walkway. The basement level walk-out leads directly to the lake and includes two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a flex living/sleeping space with a cozy, wood-lined sleeping alcove.
The “tower” provides a staircase, main floor entry and storage, 1st and 2nd floor bathrooms, and is topped off with a sleeping loft and roof deck overlooking the shoreline. The tower is sheathed vertically, accentuating its height and position within the trees. A spacious deck, wrapping around two sides, extends the living areas into the outside, making the most of a floor-to-ceiling window wall.
An attached, screen porch merges with the deck and provides a comfortable, protected dining and conversation space. The open kitchen/living area, a half-bath, the master bedroom, and porch access make up the main floor. Alchemy’s “corncrib” siding (rough sawn, locally sourced wood) is applied vertically on the tower and horizontally on the base and porch. The tower interior is wrapped in local aspen, and what is usually a junk wood: spalted pine. Corrugated, corten steel wraps the main floor, providing additional texture and delineation between boxes.
