Cottages
This Stunning Indoor-Outdoor Lake Huron Cottage Takes Its Design Cue From The Land
Updated on November 29, 2023
Peter Welles doesn’t remember if it took an hour or an entire afternoon, but he knows exactly where he was when he hit that childhood rite of passage: catching his first fish. It was a perch, pulled from Lake Huron at the cottage. “My family has been going to this spot for 90 years; it’s part of my DNA,” says Peter. A long-standing conservationist, he volunteers with organizations that are working on nature-based solutions to climate change, so it’s understandable he considers the site “his spiritual home.” Untouched wilderness, stunning sunsets and reverie-inducing waters sum up the splendors of the North Channel of Lake Huron, an hour’s drive east of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Peter actually lives on the other side of the border in Michigan (he commutes to Canada by electric car), and says the area is popular with vacationing Americans due to its proximity and beauty.
For years, he docked and spent time at his island cottage, but now his adult children stay there. “They like the island experience,” he says. As Peter gets older, he prefers having year-round and car access. So he built a breathtaking lakehouse on the mainland, just a short boat ride away from the island cottage. He made sure it could handle a bustling bunch — his kids and grandkids — but also feel cozy when it was just him and Loonie, his English cream golden retriever. “We designed it to live large or small, so when it’s just me during the winter, it’s comfortable,” says Peter. “I don’t feel like I’m swimming in a great big place.”
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To navigate the 18-month build, Peter (pictured) brought in a Minneapolis-based team: interior designer Lucy Penfield of Lucy Interior Design and architect Eric Odor of Sala Architects. “We repurposed parts of the original cottage for a family who had lost their home in a fire,” says Peter. “It took 40 men from the local Mennonite community two days to disassemble it. They had ropes over trees, and the load was pulled by horses. What remained and the foundation were then razed.”
The 1,792-square-foot lakehouse — perched on a peninsula and surrounded by deciduous and fir trees — has the same footprint as its predecessor. The roof is metal and the warmth of Douglas fir wraps the interior walls and ceilings. The architect tucked a “rising sun” under the roof. The metal, arrow-like pieces are a modern twist on a decorative detail often found on gable-ended roofs. “We agreed that a simple form with a long gable roof and a clear span design would be best,” says Eric.
To accomplish that, they used parallel chord trusses in the main living area. The expansive room is 28 by 28 feet, with skylights and windows letting in lots of light. When he’s entertaining, Peter can open the 24-foot-long folding NanaWall to the screened porch, making the lakehouse feel even airier.
The dining area flows seamlessly into the screened porch, where a green modular sectional seats a crowd — or Loonie. Beautiful views of the sky, trees and lake are unobstructed. Glass rails block the winds but don’t impede the views, notes Eric.
“Our palette is taken from nature,” says designer Lucy Penfield. “We used the color of basalt grey from the rocky shore in the granite, fireplace, counters and floors.” The great room’s fireplace is clad in Cambrian ledgestone.
“The lichen and mossy green hues in the kitchen are from the path in the woods, and the robust orange of the tile is taken from pine tree needles,” says Lucy. “The kitchen pendants are like suspended planets.”
A combination of cabinets and open shelving provides plenty of wine and glassware storage in the dining area.
“There’s a custom daybed in the great room for afternoon naps and reading to the littles,” says Lucy. It also turns into a twin bed for last-minute visitors.
Durable porcelain tile can handle wet bathers and muddy dog feet in the mudroom–laundry room, where a run of closed cabinets hides cleaning supplies and everyday items. Splashes of maroon and orange come from rugs and blankets. “I brought the textiles back from Morocco, Turkey and Navajo Nation,” says Lucy.
The den is the place for TV-watching. “It also has a sleeper sofa, if friends and their kids come for dinner and stay over,” says Lucy.
This bathroom has a retro green vanity that riffs off the cabinets in the kitchen.
In the principal dressing room, dark grey built-ins are reminiscent of the rocky shore outside.
The narrow hallway leads to the mudroom, den, guest bathroom and principal bedroom. “It feels like suites in a ship — so cozy and intimate,” says Lucy.
The principal bedroom was designed as a respite. “The live-edge wood headboard nestles between the windows, and the bedding is simple and understated,” says Lucy.
The ensuite bathroom’s black hexagonal tiles and counters are motifs that run throughout the lakehouse design.
When the wool blackout drapes are closed, the principal bedroom feels cocooning. Étagère-style shelving holds Peter’s treasures.
“The design is intentional, uncluttered and simple,” says Lucy of the lakehouse as a whole.
For Peter, that’s what cottage life should be, reflecting a deep respect for the natural setting, with its pleasures and pains. This past winter, he and Loonie watched, unnerved, as a pack of coyotes crossed the frozen lake and, by summer, he had the thrill of helping his three-year-old granddaughter fish: “I told her, ‘You got him; hold the rod up!’” says Peter. “I’m hoping she’ll have that experience at this lakehouse with her granddaughter one day.”
Spacecrafting
House & Home July/August 2022
Lucy Interior Design; Architecture: Sala Architects