The story of this holiday home began when one of the founders of paintball, Charles Gaines, purchased about 50 acres around a little lake in Alabama. He created a casual compound of his favourite outdoorsy people by selling off plots to relatives and friends, including the owner of this inviting home. Now several pals have second homes and a boathouse here, all designed by the architects at Dungan Nequette Architects. Every home is gated and private but close enough to pals to form an adult summertime “glamping” site; the team and their extended families gather for fishing, canoeing, parties and other woodsy lake fun.
This homeowner is an avid remote control airplane hobbyist and a grandfather whose primary home is only about 20 miles away in the lake chemical. He wished to enjoy very particular lake views from every room of the holiday cabin, and also had fond memories of spending some time in the hills of upstate New York. Therefore, the architects created an Alabama interpretation of an Adirondack camp, breaking the house’s scale into smaller structures that produce a feeling like a camp village, every precisely angled to capture all of the right vistas.
at a Glance
Who lives here: A guy with grown children and a bunch of grandchildren
Location: Around 25 miles northeast of Birmingham, Alabama
Size: Around 1,600 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, plus a gazebo with 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom
“We broke apart the layout under three individual rooflines to maintain a small feeling,” architect Jeff Dungan explains. Summer camps with little bunkhouse cabins surrounding a dining hall served as inspiration.
The center includes the living room and kitchen underneath one large vaulted ceiling; the west includes the guest bed and bath and the laundry room; along with the west wing includes the master bundle. A separate bunkhouse (right) has space to the large remote control planes which the owner loves flying while up at the lake, a Ping-Pong table plus a cozy bedroom and bath.
Here is a conceptual sketch to give you a good notion of how the plan operates.
Certain views to the lake from rooms in the home were priority number one for the homeowner. By obeying the plan, the architects were able to create various angles to capture each the desired views. They laid it out on paper but did lots of adjusting with string and stakes out from the area together with the contractor and the homeowner to get it just right.
Jeffrey Dungan Architects
As one brings up the drive to the motor court, the various rooflines trick the eye, seeming to be a charming cluster of camp cottages.
Jeffrey Dungan Architects
For the siding cypress was chosen by that the architects. “I think cypress is a lot prettier than ethanol, with its color range,” Dungan says. “It is also denser; the carpenter bees are not interested in it ; and it stains up really well.” Tennessee fieldstone matches the cedar’s range of colors. The red trimming adds a touch of whimsy to the palette of organic materials.
The foyer in between the kitchen and master wing has French doors which open onto the deck. The windows are by Monarch and were fabricated in Alabama.
Jeffrey Dungan Architects
The main entrance door opens into a foyer with an 8-foot-high ceiling. Architect Richard Long describes the entry sequence as a “palate cleanser between distances” — you wander up from outdoors, arrive underneath a very low copper roof, then enter through the front door into a more compressed space. This little hallway then leads you to a large open living space and living space.
Jeffrey Dungan Architects
Entering in the compressed entry hall makes walking into this space that far more striking. Large vaulted ceilings complete with 8- by 12-inch cypress trusses connect the kitchen and the living room in one open space.
The walls in here will also be cypress. Transom windows and high dormers let in plenty of natural lighting. The large windows at the end of the room look out on the lake.
Jeffrey Dungan Architects
The architects chose the Tennessee fieldstone since it comes from such a wide range of colours, from blues to tans to reds. “It is great; you can inform the stonemason to utilize just a bit of one color and blend in more of the others,” Dungan says.
Jeffrey Dungan Architects
All these would be the living room dividers.
Jeffrey Dungan Architects
In the kitchen that the island doubles as the rear of a breakfast nook bench.
Big lantern pendants hung from rope to pulleys stand until the scale of this space, and crimson cabinets and colors really are a lively selection for a holiday home.
The arrangement on the left would be the detached barn/bunkhouse.
Jeffrey Dungan Architects
This instant exterior door is just off the motor court. The bump-out to the right is the guest wing; the construction on the left is the kitchen.
Jeffrey Dungan Architects
A botanical blue print on the window remedies cozies up the guest room.
This master bedroom corner provides the owner’s favourite view. Each one the angling and canning paid off.
The space over the room for its remote planes and Ping Pong from the bunkhouse is the kids’ favourite spot. “The barn has become the kids’ domain, and after playing with they come up here and crash,” Dungan says. Cozy slanted ceilings plus beds tucked between built-ins and to dormers make it a very inviting place to hunker down for the evening.
Fans and studying lights are practical from the bunkhouse bedroom, and its own views and views provide it a treehouse feel.
Inform us : Perhaps you have joined up with friends on a holiday getaway?
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