Sheldrake Lake House
Sheldrake Lake House:
An empty-nest couple downsizing from a large traditional home on a busy town street fell in love with the tranquil setting of this 1960s ranch house. It offered a wooded retreat with lake views in the middle of suburban Westchester. But the house itself was riddled with problems. In a top-to-bottom renovation, SMA achieved a series of strategic interventions that opened the house to Sheldrake Lake, heightened the presence and functionality of the main entrance, and improved the interior’s vertical and horizontal circulation. The result is a restrained yet playful design, with the graceful interior spaces seamlessly connecting to the woods-and-water setting.
SMA’s key design interventions include a cantilevered, natural wood canopy that projects out from the south entrance on the lower level, where the house is approached from the driveway; remaking the existing double-height stair hall and lower-level entry hall into taut compositions of solids and voids by rebuilding walls, enlarging openings, and creating two new stair cases; a large living space on the main level, with cantilevered deck and lake views to the east; a master bedroom on the upper level, oriented toward the lake, with cathedral ceiling, private deck, and master bath with water views. The new exterior cladding’s two-toned palette, dark-stained and natural wood, highlights the house’s key architectural elements, such as the new south entrance.
SMA Team:
Stephen Moser, Helene Lee, Elizabeth Whittington, Evan Cerilli
General Contractor: New York Interior Construction, Inc.
Structural Engineer: Blue Sky Design
Photography: Michael Biondo
An empty-nest couple downsizing from a large traditional home on a busy town street fell in love with the tranquil setting of this 1960s ranch house. It offered a wooded retreat with lake views in the middle of suburban Westchester. But the house itself was riddled with problems. In a top-to-bottom renovation, SMA achieved a series of strategic interventions that opened the house to Sheldrake Lake, heightened the presence and functionality of the main entrance, and improved the interior’s vertical and horizontal circulation. The result is a restrained yet playful design, with the graceful interior spaces seamlessly connecting to the woods-and-water setting.
SMA’s key design interventions include a cantilevered, natural wood canopy that projects out from the south entrance on the lower level, where the house is approached from the driveway; remaking the existing double-height stair hall and lower-level entry hall into taut compositions of solids and voids by rebuilding walls, enlarging openings, and creating two new stair cases; a large living space on the main level, with cantilevered deck and lake views to the east; a master bedroom on the upper level, oriented toward the lake, with cathedral ceiling, private deck, and master bath with water views. The new exterior cladding’s two-toned palette, dark-stained and natural wood, highlights the house’s key architectural elements, such as the new south entrance.
SMA Team:
Stephen Moser, Helene Lee, Elizabeth Whittington, Evan Cerilli
General Contractor: New York Interior Construction, Inc.
Structural Engineer: Blue Sky Design
Photography: Michael Biondo
Project Year: 2018
Project Cost: $500,001 - $750,000
Country: United States
