LO Lake House is a ground-up house designed on Lake Oscaleta, just North of NYC. This Net Zero home is nestled into the wooded landscape, on a hillside facing South. The home blends into the surroundings and allows for time to slow down through relaxing vantage points and views of the placid lake and woods.
The breezeway introduces a direct descending pathway to the water's edge from the street and bi-furcates the home into entertainment zones and sleeping areas. Lakeside and under the cantilevered living is an easy-access sporting depository for canoes and kayaks.
The home's roof is dotted with skylights and solar panels but includes a roof stairway and paty to a deck. From this sunken terrace, facing the forest's attenuated tree trunks and foliage, adults have a hidden hang-out. At the front of the home, the diaphanous metal structure encases a landscape of platforms and winding stairs for children to play in the tree canopy.
Based on conversations with fifth grade boys and our memory of awe at the life created in the treetops in Italo Calvino's Baron in the Trees, we have invented accessory spaces for being in the trees.