Architect Michael O’Kelley’s Lake House Must-Haves
FANS Ceiling fans are a must, especially on the porches. I also suggest hanging fans inside the house for when the weather is nice enough to leave the windows open.
EXTERIORS I prefer using natural materials on the exterior of a home wherever possible, as they provide authenticity and timelessness that cannot be replicated with synthetic or manufactured materials.
INTERIORS Install durable flooring wherever possible. We utilized character-grade white oak floors with a flat, water-based urethane throughout most of the spaces. The bathrooms have natural stone flooring.
FLOOR PLAN With a lakefront property, tailoring a house to the site might require bending the floor plan to follow the shoreline or creating a design that is one-room-deep so that all spaces have views of the water. Also keep in mind that the house has two fronts since people will be visiting from the water side as well as from the street.
