Design Confidently, Live Comfortably
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| A painter and a musician get creative in their affordable home made from a simple plan and common materials by Robert Gerloff Bruce and Sara Qualey asked me to design their home in the North Woods of Wisconsin, and they were quite clear about what they didn’t want -- the type of quaint, woodsy lake house the locals call a cedar chalet. Often found in northern lake communities, cedar chalets are characterized by huge walls of windows facing the lake, cavernous interior spaces, acres of pine paneling on the inside, and a log or cedar exterior. Bruce and Sara were equally clear about what they did want -- a relatively small (2,500 square feet or so), open, informal, inviting house with living space, a master bedroom and bath, and a guest bedroom.  And because Bruce is a bassist, he needed a music studio in which to practice and store his bass fiddles. Sara, a painter, wanted her own creative space, too -- a detached painting studio. They wanted lots of wall space on which to hang paintings, and lots of windows facing both the lake and the marsh. And they wanted to build all this for about $200,000.I was getting nervous. It seemed like an awful lot of house for their budget. But then we drove out to the site and bushwhacked along a faint deer trace until we stood at the spot where Bruce and Sara imagined building their new home. It was high on a narrow glacial ridge overlooking a lake on one side and a finger of marsh on the other. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Any worries I felt melted away and I couldn’t wait to start sketching. NEXT: A Mix of Lofty and Intimate Rooms |
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PHOTOS:
JOHN GRUEN |
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