Header: Rafael Gamo
Lakeside House on the River Rouge encompasses a 4,000sf Y-shaped home spanning into a captivating landscape cultivated for over 40 years. The client, a former Asian art curator and gallery owner, had one main request: to incorporate her collection of handcrafted objects inspired by the homeowner’s family history related to the lumber industry.
The many uses of black slate
The entire lakeside house is constructed of two primary materials: white ash and black slate, both from the same quarry. Both materials are used in a variety of ways that emphasise their physical characteristics, including splitting them into roof shingles. They are cut into wall stones, slabbed and honed for horizontal surfaces, broken into pieces for the driveway, and collected as scraps into gabions to produce retaining structures.
The sun’s movement changes the stone exterior throughout the day. When sunlight hits the house directly, the facade accentuates the texture and dramatic character of the house with the interplay of light and shadows. At other times throughout the day, the stone highlights the veining and variations of the stone.
White ash boards
The white ash boards, on the other hand, retained a consistent linear appearance. Used across the ceiling, floor, and walls, the white ash brings a sensation of quiet warmth to the project. The wood transitions from quarter-sawn to plain-cut, with the same four-inch pattern. The fifteen-foot plank of ash constitutes a long bench that will host the homeowner’s bronze casting collection. Featuring a different character from the same species of white ash, the bench makes a stark contrast with the cathedral grain.
Guiding and shielding from the sunlight
The openings set into the building serve as shields from the sun during the warmer months and times of day. The south-facing front entrance serves the same purposes, guiding the sun inside during winter days while providing shade when needed. The transition between the slate black exterior and the warm wooden interior leaves visitors captivated by the striking contrast between outside and inside.
Connection to the landscape and natural light
The building’s openings behave as shields from the sun during the warmer months and times of day. The south-facing front entrance serves the same purpose, guiding the sun inside during winter days while providing shade when needed. Large glass walls that span floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall provide mesmerising views of the dramatic topography.
Just like the Japanese woodblock printing that makes the centrepiece of the owner’s collection, the quiet interior volumes frame the landscape, intended to be experienced from within the room. The layered plantings, surfaces and sculptural works inspired the interiors, infusing the daily life of Lakeside residence users.
Made primarily of just two materials, the Lakeside House by Disbrow Iannuzzi shows there is power in simplicity. Equipped with large wall-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall windows, the project draws the landscape inside, making it one of the focal points of the residence’s interior.
Technical sheet
Architecture firm: Disbrow Iannuzzi
Project name: Lakeside
Location: Birmingham, Michigan
Size: 4,000 square feet
Status: Construction completed late 2023, ongoing site features through 2025
Photography: Rafael Gamo, May 2025
