Life at the Lakeside

Set on a parklike site in a northern suburb of Detroit, Lakeside is a 372-square metre (4,000-square foot), Y-shaped home that opens to a landscape shaped by the River Rouge, which the homeowner has helped cultivate the dramatic topography of for over 40 years. A former curator of Asian art and gallery owner, she envisioned an elegant, minimalist residence that would harmonise with nature while accommodating her collection of handcrafted objects. The design also quietly nods to her family’s heritage in the lumber industry, expressed through the thoughtful use of materials and craft.

The architecture studio Disbrow Iannuzzi responded to this vision by employing just two primary materials: black slate and white ash. All the slate was sourced from a single quarry and treated in multiple ways to showcase its natural versatility – split into shingles, cleft and cut for wall stone, honed for floors, crushed and compacted for the driveway, and gathered into gabions for retaining walls. As the day progresses, the stone’s dark façade transforms with shifting light, its veining and surface variations revealing a dynamic interplay of shadow and texture.

In contrast, the white ash introduces warmth and calm. Used consistently across floors, walls and ceilings, the boards were selected for their linear grain and subtle tonal harmony. At moments of transition, the wood shifts from quarter-sawn to plain-cut, maintaining a rhythmic continuity within a refined 10-centimetre (four-inch) pattern. 4.6-metre (15-foot) plank of white ash, with its striking cathedral grain, forms a long bench displaying the homeowner’s series of bronze castings. Every opening in the slate exterior reveals the home’s warm wooden interior, much like cutting into an apple. The windows, set deep within the structure, shield the interiors from harsh summer light while welcoming the low winter sun. Expansive glass walls stretch floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall, framing curated views of the layered landscape outside, where plantings, surfaces and sculptures become the true focal points of each room.

Much like the Japanese woodblock prints in the homeowner’s collection, each vista is composed with precision and serenity. The house and landscape are inseparable, one reflecting the other, forming a seamless connection between the built and natural worlds that enriches the rhythm of daily life within.

Photography: Rafael Gamo