Lake Michigan Retreat

A well-used 1950's one-bedroom A-frame house was revived with a new two-story addition placed on the street side, elevated to take advantage of Lake Michigan views over the existing roof line. Garage and a modern master suite fill the addition at the first floor, while two bedrooms, adjoining bath, and a sitting loft finish off the second floor. Cramped kitchen and living areas were expanded toward the lake by removing interior walls and an outdoor porch which jutted into the footprint of the old house. By adding roofed "wings" to either side of the original A-frame, new screened and open porches were created to wrap an elevated ipe wood deck.

Original exposed pine roof decking and timber beams were saved and augmented by matching ceilings in the added screened and covered porches. An unexpected bonus was discovering that the utilitarian basement could be converted to a walkout level family room and full bath, with access to the lake through new sliding glass doors.