A Michigan Lake House at a Delaware Beach

• June 16th 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

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Welcome to Property Week, a week-long UrbanTurf series devoted to intriguing residential properties in the DC area and beyond. From a DC version of Wrigleyville to a Trinidad apartment building that will only offer five-bedroom apartments, this week is all about cool residences both near and far. Enjoy.

Property Week would not feel complete if we didn’t include a home in a nearby beach town.

Designed by DC-based Kamm Architecture for a Google lobbyist in a style is meant to mimic the North Woods lake houses in his home state of Michigan, this three-story beach house overlooks the Rehoboth-Lewes Canal in Rehoboth Beach. Tree View is a fitting name, as the modern and expanded version of a beach cottage offers views of the surrounding tree tops from several angles.

Kamm principal Tom Kamm was an award-winning set designer prior to and his wife Kelly founding the firm, and he approached the design with an eye towards framing views in the same way that he would’ve done for with a theater proscenium to tell the story on stage.

The house is designed with two parallel columns linked by a central “circulation spine” and has completely transparent faces on their east and west sides. The interior evokes a ship with exposed steel, cables and the catwalk-style of the second floor, which looks into the great room and living area below. Horizontal wood panels conceal built-in media and kitchen storage, and there are punched-out openings in the wall and roof of the second-story deck, providing framed views of the sky and forest.

The woods and the canal are visible at various vantage points from the home’s interior and the rear deck, but perhaps the best aspect of the house is that it was built to be completely accessible to enable the owner’s niece, who suffers from quadriplegia, to enjoy it on her visits.

Photography — Anice Hoachlander

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a_michigan_lake_house_on_rehoboth_beach/11354.