An Addition

Home additions often present unique challenges that may not have obvious solutions. AB2 can offer ideas that you may not have come up with on your own. Read below for just one example:

SOUTHWEST Michigan - A Chicago couple who own a summer home on this side of Lake Michigan desired to add a year-round guest house to accommodate their growing family and friends. The design had to be sympathetic to their adjacent home, a well-maintained 50’s contemporary redwood-and-glass retreat. Above all, it was to be an open, airy space that took advantage of our spectacular Lake Michigan sunsets. Zoning requirements dictated that any "guest house" be attached to the adjacent home, lest it constitute two dwellings on the same property. A direct attachment to the home, however, would not only have been restricted by Michigan’s Critical Dune Protection laws, but also would have cut off the only remaining outside access to the lakefront yard and patio. The solution was to keep the guest house a comfortable distance away from the existing structure, but meet the attachment requirement by connecting it to an existing roof deck by way of a suspended foot bridge. Lakefront access is maintained under the bridge, through a lush garden area.

Perhaps you have design issues that could benefit from a fresh look and innovative solution... Click here to send me an email, or give me a call at 269.321.1890!

Credits:

Nehil-Sivak, Structural Engineers

Kalamazoo, MI

Dennis Olson, Lakeland Builders

South Haven, MI

Jeff Mitchell Photography

Kalamazoo, MI