Old Mission Cottage

Michigan

Located along the western shore of Old Mission Peninsula on Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay, this modest house is a reinterpretation of the aged cabins the owners are fond of visiting during their summer holidays. It also reflects a simple and relaxed life of long, warm summer days; of quiet, cool evenings with a fire; of sailing, reading, and baking fruit pies. In activity and in structure, the house revolves around the centrally positioned fireplaces and wood-burning stove. This chimney mass, constructed of concrete planks left with the grain of wood forms, is the heart of the house.

Approached on a winding entry path through the forest, the cottage's flesh-colored face welcomes the visitor. A round column of slender wood posts resting on a boulder marks the entry. This precise column finds its counterpoint in a massive gnarled maple trunk near the center of the house.

In material and detail, the 2,400 square foot house is both a modest cottage and a rigorous structure. Memories of other cottages abound: a quintessential stair lit by high southern sun and a porch of splayed columns facing west through the forest toward the lake at dusk. Exposed Douglas fir framing and paneling, galvanized steel roofing and unfinished concrete retain their basic natures.