This 3,900 square foot custom home on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe in California sits adjacent to Sugar Pine Point State Park. The house was designed for a family from the valley by blending both the Adirondack Camp and Old Tahoe styles of architecture, complete with Cedar barkwood siding and a prominent stone base. View of Front Elevation and Entry Court (above).
The client wanted the house to be rustic in character and to look as if it ‘belonged’ in its natural setting. It was with this in mind that SANDBOX chose the palette of materials and colors for the exterior of the home. For example, for the Front Entry Porch (above), SANDBOX used bark-on Cedar log posts and integrated a large boulder picked from the site with the porch walking surface.
The home is ideal for large family gatherings. A spacious outdoor covered back porch (above left) has ample room for family members to sit around and swap fishing or other stories in front of an exterior stone fireplace. Inside, there are four bedrooms, including a bunk room for the kids, a reading loft and a large rec room with its own fireplace, pool table and wet bar, which is accessed by an enclosed second level bridgeway (above).
With its pristine setting next to the state park, it was pivotal that this home complement the landscape rather than overstate it. To achieve this goal, SANDBOX designed around the existing large Cedar and Pine trees, and used indigenous materials to blend with its surroundings. View of Rear Elevation (above).
The Great Room (above) was designed to create the feeling of a mountain lodge, with high vaulted ceilings, rugged timbers and a large woodburning stone fireplace. Glass French doors on each side of the fireplace lead to the covered rear Family Porch. The Reading Loft on the Upper Level is bordered by an open timber railing allowing one to look down to the Great Room from above.
The Dining Area (above) is immediately adjacent to the Kitchen and Great Room, and was designed to look out over the private, forested park setting. With visible timber beamwork and a plaster wall treatment, it has a well-crafted and timeless quality.
