New Legacy for a Lake House

This stunning hybrid timber frame house has everything a family loved about their camp and much, much more.

12 hours ago

Janice Randall Rohlf, Rob Karosis, Photographer,

Inside and outside, there are cozy spots for family and guests to gather.

A BOSTON RESTAURATEUR dreamed of building a retreat in New Hampshire for his family and was looking for just the right piece of lakefront property. Time and again, he came back to one particular spot: There was water on three sides and a 1913 camp on the point that reminded him of his grandparents’ place in the Adirondacks, where he and his seven siblings spent summers growing up. But what really struck him was the orientation of the modest house. “My wife and I were attracted to this house because of its unique position on the lake,” he says. “The sun sets directly in front of it.”

Nine years passed, during which the couple, their children and frequent guests would use the lake home to the max —all the way through October, when a fireplace and minimal baseboard heat just weren’t enough. But the homeowner’s passion for skiing finally got the better of him and became the motivation for building a new house that could be used year-round. “We loved it up there so much that we really wanted to create a four-season space that allowed us to share it with as many friends and family as we could,” explains the homeowner, an avid skier who loves teaching the sport to others.

The clients wanted something that fit within the vernacular of a wilderness, lakefront property.

The house’s hybrid timber frame style resulted from a collaboration among the architect, builder and homeowners. Nestled into the evergreens and white pines, the house has a tucked-in feeling that its dark exterior palette further enhances.

The couple’s search for an architect and builder led them to TMS Architects & Interiors and Hayward & Company Custom Builders, both based in New Hampshire. The homeowner had design/build experience, but even more helpful to the principal architect, Jason Bailey, AIA, was that already the family had lived on the spot for nearly a decade. “TMS was really interested from the get-go in how we wanted to interact with the house, how we used the existing house and which things we liked about it,” says the homeowner.

TMS interior designer Cristina Johnson says she “looked at blues with a green in them,” when establishing a color palette complementary to all the wood in the house.

“The clients wanted something that fit within the vernacular of a wilderness, lakefront property,” says Bailey. “They wanted a timber frame home.” Collaborating with Canadian Timberframes (CTF), they designed a hybrid timber frame, which, observes Bailey, has “a little bit of the Pacific Northwest coming through,” with its arched profiles, steeper pitches on some of the dormers and overall cottage-y feeling. “CTF are experts at what they do, so I gave them some freedom to make suggestions to help enhance the timber frame on the outside of the building, like trusses on the gable ends of the home.” Nestled into the evergreens and white pines, the house has a tucked-in feeling that its darker exterior palette further enhances.

A mounted moose head trophy lends a Pacific Northwest feeling to the house. Through reclaimed doors with stained-glass panes, one passes a custom ski rack to arrive in a large, lofted mudroom.

Taking into account the family’s love of the outdoors, Bailey designed the home’s communal spaces to have a connection to the outside anywhere he could, and always top of mind was that the view from the existing house was important to duplicate in the new one. Thus, the current first-floor primary bedroom offers the same lake view that its predecessor did, and second-floor bedrooms all have “some sense of view,” explains Bailey, adding that “all these rooms have timber frame elements — nice vaulted ceilings, high beam work, so you feel like you can breathe.

When designing the house, Bailey also considered inevitable weather patterns, especially strong winds. For shelter without having to retreat indoors, he established two sitting porches. “People can transition over time in the outdoor spaces to be near the lake in the morning when the wind is a little quieter, and when the wind starts to increase, they can work their way around to the covered porch that has an outdoor fireplace sheltered from the wind,” points out Bailey.

There are five bedrooms in the house, including the primary, center, with a killer view of the lake, and a bunkroom, far right, with custom built-in beds

Taking her cues from the timber frame design, TMS interior designer Cristina Johnson, AIA, describes one of her challenges as managing the many types of wood and stains in order to bring a cohesive feeling to the house. The main wood flooring is rift- and quarter-sawn white oak, while stair railings and newel posts are red oak. Two different grades of Douglas fir were used for the beams, and in the ski room there’s pine paneling. “There are probably ten different wood finishes,” estimates Johnson, who says she “looked at blues with a green in them,” when establishing a complementary color palette. Also, she brought in warm metals, such as copper accents, which underscore the historic feeling the homeowners were looking for. Stained-glass panes featured in the entryway’s reclaimed doors and in the stairwell contribute to the vintage look.

TMS was really interested from the get-go in how we wanted to interact with the house, how we used the existing house and which things we liked about it.

The architecture and design work completed by TMS set the stage for Jodi Sleeper to bring in furniture, rugs and table lamps. Sleeper, a product designer who owns Ameri-can Cottage in Gilford, took her cues from the setting and the family themselves, and made selections that hew, she says, to an “upscale rustic” vibe. “This is a lake house in the purest of forms,” she says, “but it has an oversize, comfy feel that we tried to reflect in the furniture.” She was sensitive to the homeowners’ desire for a family-centric house where the four of them could always find a place to gather and feel comfortable.

“The homeowners love rich color and solid, large-scale furniture,” says Sleeper, who went for bold-hued rugs and custom, American-made furniture that she designed herself. Not everything is new to this house; some pieces were first in the original camp. Above the sideboard at the end of the dining table is a reframed etched skier that once hung in the owner’s grandfather’s bar — a little piece of nostalgia that keeps the family’s history alive.

Ten years in the making, from an idea to the end result, the lake house realizes the dream that the homeowner had for his family and friends. “The house is designed to be hospitable,” he says. And he is quick to acknowledge the team responsible for creating it. His advice? “The more talented people you surround yourself with, the better the outcome will be. “That’s what we tried to do, and we succeeded.”

PROJECT TEAM

ARCHITECT AND INTERIOR DESIGNER:

TMS Architects & Interiors

603-436-4274

tmsarchitects.com

TIMBERFRAME MANUFACTURER:

Canadian Timberframes

canadiantimberframes.com

BUILDER:

Hayward & Company Custom Builders

603-256-5919

haywardandcompany.com