Pure Michigan
Huge glass brings lakeside residents closer to the water.
In northern Michigan, the summer –with its blue skies, low humidity, and pleasant temperatures –is short but wonderful. Vacationers and residents alike know their window for a supreme indoor-outdoor living experience is small, so they don’t take it for granted. On Glen Lake, just a few miles from LakeMichigan and nestled up next to Sleeping Bears Dunes National Lakeshore, is a Midcentury Modern renovation that makes the most of this summertime paradise.
Categories
- Residential
Products
- Classic Line
- Series 600
- Window Wall
- Series 670
- Hinged Windows
- Series 900
- Hinged Door
Location
- Michigan
In 2014, Ray Kendra of Traverse City-based Environment Architects spruced up a modest midcentury home with a 1,000-square-foot addition that makes full use of the home’s location along Glen Lake. Huge walls of glass frame truly picturesque views of the water just a few yards away, and they bathe the addition with tons of natural light, enlivening the space in the summer and giving it a soft, warm glow during the long, cold northern Michigan winter.
This 1,000-square-foot addition to the home frames stunning views of Glen Lake in northern Michigan.
Fixed and operable windows let in natural lightinto the living roomduring the summer and provide maximum energy efficiency during Michigan’s long, cold winters.
“Our approach was to create a glass box to take advantage of the amazing southern views and exposure to the site,” says Kendra. “As we are typically working on very sites with great natural attributes the indoor-outdoor connection is something we are constantly embracing in our designs.”
Highlighting the project are two vast Series 600 Window Walls, which give the homeowners (the neighborhood’s only year-round residents) unfettered views of the rippling blue water, whether they are eating in the spacious dining area or relaxing in the living room. A large array of Series 670 Casement and Awning Windows surrounding the huge window walls let cool Lake Michigan breezes course through the home in the summer and seal in warmth during the winter.
A combination of fixed windows and awning windows, as well as a Western Window Systems hingeddoorcreate a stunning home entrance with a staircase leading up to the home’s main floor.
“The ability to create large expanses of glass along with good ventilation was key,” Kendra says. “And because we work in a climate with constant weather variations, the quality of the Western Window Systems products was important to us.”
The thin sightlines and contemporary styling of the Western Window Systems products (including a sturdy and attractive Series 900 Hinged Door leading out from the addition to the sandy lakeshore) provide a complementary adaption of the Midcentury Modern aesthetics of the 50-year-old home with floating ceilings, metal accents, Douglas fir paneling, and limestone flooring. The result is an interesting juxtaposition of some of the home’s original Midcentury Modern furniture with 21st-century amenities like smartphone-controlled heating, lighting, and sound
Western Window Systems’ contemporary styling perfectly complements the Midcentury Modern architecture of the Glen Lake home that sits on a grassy lot surrounded by trees.
Architect Ray Kendra, Environment Architects
Photographer Todd Zawistowski
