Lake House in Western Massachusetts disguises itself as white crystals

Lake House That Looks Like White Crystals

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This family house in Western Massachusetts looks like a cluster of abstract, crystalline forms from afar, but from up close, these structures unfold and open up to reveal a serene lakeside home. Brooklyn-based Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design designed the building using almost a cinematic technique that slices through the volume to create contrasting spaces dominated by horizontals and verticals, with the white volumes puncturing through a stacked timber wall that flows out to provide beautiful views of the water.

Lake House by Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design

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The house is wrapped in a timber wall that also functions as a retaining wall for the landscape. This encloses the structure, while apertures allow the abstract forms to spread out into the surroundings. Inside, these forms create spaces of extreme verticality and horizontality, revealing alternating views of the sky and the water in front.

Lake House by Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design

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The white interior walls are combined with wooden details and surfaces that reference the exterior and give warmth to the spaces.

Lake House by Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design

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The house is wrapped in a timber wall that also functions as a retaining wall for the landscape.

Lake House by Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design

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It encloses the structure, while apertures allow the abstract forms to spread out into the surroundings.

Lake House by Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design

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Inside, these forms create spaces of extreme verticality and horizontality, revealing alternating views of the sky and the water in front.

Lake House by Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design

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The vertical spaces are dominated by dramatic changes of materials that reach up to a skylight aperture, while the horizontal spaces are characterized by neutral tones and materiality.