Lower Shore Residence Reframes Family Living With a Four-Season Room
Lower Shore Residence lands on the rugged edge of Harbor Springs, MI, United States, with Lucid Architecture shaping a house tuned to water, wind, and family life. Three volumes hold different moods and rhythms, with a tall, transparent heart that opens public rooms to Lake Michigan while quieter wood-clad wings gather the private rooms along the shore. Designed for year-round use, it balances outdoor energy with indoor ease.
A low concrete wall leads to a quiet recess, the lake beyond held in pause. Then the view widens through glass and timber, pulling the eye to open water and the sweep of sky across the Michigan horizon.
This is a house on the shore, organized as three volumes with distinct roles. In Harbor Springs, Lucid Architecture composes two wood-clad boxes for sleeping and support, and a taller glass box for daily gathering—the material assembly does the talking.
Build the Core
At the center, a four-season room anchors the plan and the structure. Glulam beams span above a transparent envelope while external steel framing carries loads cleanly, freeing the interior for views and movement across the hearth and toward the water. Cast-in-place concrete fireplaces bookend the public rooms and introduce heft and texture against the clarity of glass. The result is warm and legible, a framework that reads in sun and in snow.
Timber, Concrete, Steel
Two lower boxes wear sustainable Accoya wood cladding, their grain catching light that slides in from the lake. Between them, raw concrete walls and painted steel trim build a tough, precise palette that stands up to wind and spray while keeping a calm interior character. The exposed concrete entry wall turns the arrival into a measured reveal, trimming sightlines until the main room opens wide. Materials do the work—durable outside, tactile inside.
Light, View, Privacy
Lakeside window walls pull daylight deep into the public rooms and stitch interior life to the horizon. On the road side, solid walls rise with high clerestory windows, washing ceilings with soft light and muting traffic while preserving cross-ventilation and a steady rhythm of shadow across the volumes. That balance keeps mornings bright and evenings quiet. It makes each room feel tuned rather than exposed.
Envelope and Comfort
High R-value assemblies wrap the house, and continuous mineral wool insulation backs the cladding for reliable thermal performance. Extended overhangs cut summer sun while admitting low winter light, an old trick executed with crisp detailing at the beam lines and eaves. Traditional residential framing in the smaller wings keeps construction efficient and responsive to use, while the glass box’s steel-and-glulam system carries wider spans without clutter. Energy use drops, comfort rises.
Rooms for Every Season
Daily life pins to the hearths and the four-season room, where sliding transitions and durable finishes welcome boots, boards, and sandy dogs (without fuss). The private rooms sit in the timber-clad volumes, quiet and insulated, with short links back to the living core for easy gatherings and late-night returns from the beach. It works when the lake is calm. It works when the wind kicks up.
By dusk, concrete holds the day’s warmth and the beams draw a fine lattice across the ceiling. The shore hums, and the house answers in measured materials and clear structure, its glow reading across the water with restraint.
Photography courtesy of Lucid Architecture
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