KEM STUDIO designed this modern lodge style home nestled on waterfront property along Weatherby Lake, North Kansas City, Missouri. The Walsh’s work in the urban core, yet they desired a place where they could wind down after work and casually entertain friends. The lake house encompasses 3,052 square feet of living space with three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms.
As you walk towards the lake, the house and the city is left behind, immersing yourself in lake living. The main living space is a wood-clad, two-story volume flooded with natural light while framing views of the lake. This is contrasted by a crisp, white stucco volume housing the private functions. The approach to the site is to connect the house to the land with large stone boulders from the site and otherwise leave the lot wooded as is.
Accolades: This project has won an AIA KC Design Excellence Award, a Platinum A’ Design Award, and an Archilovers Best Project Award.
Brief: The owners had a vision of a ‘modern lodge.” They were excited about lakeside living and wanted to build a home that was comfortable and provided a go-to place for family and friends.
Who are the clients and what’s interesting about them?
As a commercial photographer, one of the owners had an inspiration for the house from the process of capturing an experience with a still photo. The house is two simple platonic forms, one resting on the other, pulled apart to create an aperture to the lake. The view is revealed once you enter the house, leaving the city behind and immersing yourself in lake living.
Once the property was cleared of some of its trees and construction began, the owners were awe-struck with how the giant back windows would provide a straight-line view of the main lake opening up off the cove.
What are the sustainability features?
The architects believe that sustainability is rooted in good design principles. Modern Lodge takes a holistic approach to sustainability by encompassing design, experience, lifestyle, and the building’s impact on the environment with systems and material use.
The material usage is honest, natural and resourceful. Half of the house is polished concrete floors without adding another finish material. All the hardwoods are utility grade oak – both an inexpensive material and quality of wood that is often discarded. The site contained mostly limestone that was extracted during excavation for foundations. All the rock was kept on-site and used in the landscape architecture.
What were the key challenges?
One of the key challenges was the site itself. It was sloped toward the lake and chock full of limestone.
What were the solutions?
KEM STUDIO designed the house to minimize the foundation system. They also used large stones extracted from the site to physically connect the home to the lake.
What We Love: This modern lodge style home offers a fantastic place for entertaining guests while combining warmth with rustic-clean lines. The overall design offers low-maintenance materials and jaw-dropping lake views that give this home a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere to meet this family’s lifestyle needs.
Tell Us: What are your thoughts on this family lake house? Are there any details in the design that you would do differently if this was your home? Let us know in the Comments!
Note: Have a look at our most popular home tour that we have featured here on One Kindesign in the state of Missouri: Absolutely dreamy Cape Cod inspired lake house on Lake Ozark.
Above: A 20-foot, floor-to-ceiling glass wall with sliding doors frames incredible views of Weatherby Lake.
Above: From the exterior facade, this home showcases a cypress box (public living spaces), cantilevered over a smaller white stucco box (private living spaces) with sleek dark metal and glass.
Photos: Bob Greenspan Photography
One Kindesign has received this project from our submissions page. If you have a project you would like to submit, please visit our submit your work page for consideration!
0 comments