”This is a weekend retreat that feels like a woodsy, Adirondack-style lodge in the winter and a spare, open beach house in the summer,” says Jack Kreitinger of Kreitinger Design.
It`s not by accident. The Chicago-based designer and his two clients worked closely together to create the perfect getaway house on the owners`
lakefront property north of Muskegon in Michigan. They had originally considered buying an old barn and moving it (an idea that proved too costly), then settled on customizing a post-and-beam kit house from Timber Peg in Vermont.
”The old-fashioned post-and-beam construction allowed us to have the big, barnlike spaces you can`t get with frame construction,” Kreitinger explains. He whitewashed the pine exterior for a light look, applied local flagstone at the base and mimicked crossed-beam barn doors for a bit of country charm. The rafters, pitched roof (which soars to 24 feet above the second floor`s living/dining room) and massive stone fireplace are carefully lit. ”The track lighting makes you very aware of the structure, which to me is very beautiful.”
As for the interior design, the goal was to capture the spirit of being both on the lake and in the woods. ”I used the blue of the lake as a primary color and brought in lots of natural elements,” says Kreitinger, who commissioned an Adirondack artisan to handcraft a cabinet of birch bark and a bench and bed frame of branches. He also found large-scale lamps in California of sand-blasted pine, a moose horn chandelier (actually made of plaster) and handcarved wood fruits from Portugal for the house.
”I didn`t want a kitsch or overly vintage look,” Kreitinger explains, so he mixed in cutting-edge lighting fixtures, clean-lined upholstered chairs and sofa and the owners` collection of contemporary paintings.
In all his choices, the emphasis was on comfort. ”The house was made for reading, napping, cooking, and eating, which are all the fun things to do on a weekend,” Kreitinger says.
Resources:
Living/dining room: Sofas and upholstered chairs-Avery Boardman at Callard & Osgood; blue fabric-China Seas; plaid pillow fabric and handwoven silk on bench-Donghia; antique kilim-Joseph Fell; branch bench-available through Kreitinger Design; wicker chairs-from the Ginsburg Collection through Kreitinger Design; antique dining table-owner`s collection; dining chairs-Hickory Chair at Callard & Osgood.
Kitchen: Pine cupboard-Mike Bell; Caleca ceramics-Marshall Field & Co.
