The New House Next Door: Chapter 4: Adirondack Lake Cottage

Beautiful Day at the Adirondack Cottage on the Lake

At the beautiful lake-side property for the "Adirondack Cottage" project, spring has sprung. The lake is no longer frozen, the winter winds have gone away till next year, and the trees have budded out their leaves- including the maple tree we saved with our site planning (see Chapter 1 link below). We protected it's roots from heavy machinery by marking around it off limits to vehicles, and so far so good- it looks healthy!

Sheetrock being delivered in the front door (and leafed out tree in front yard!)

While it may look complex, the roof is a basic gable for the main part of the house, with dormers popping out of the roof (2 front, 1 back) to create space for the second floor bedrooms and windows up high in the entry foyer. The garage has it's own rotated roof, as does the great room bump out with the soaring feature window. The main roof slopes down in front to cover the front porch roof - with a gable detail over the entry- and slopes down over the back master bedroom glass doors, supported by some brackets to add a special detail at the location of the private patio.

Master Bedroom end of the house roof extension over glass door

View from inside the Master Bedroom, which will have it's own private patio

Inside the electricians and plumbers have installed their rough wiring, piping and duct-work and the fixtures and compressors and some cabinetry is on site. The cavities have all been insulated with mineral wool batts in the walls, and closed cell spray foam in the roofs. The attached garage has been thermally isolated and fire separated from the house. In addition to the cavity being insulated, the walls also have taped continuous insulated sheathing to help create a tight envelope that allows very little air infiltration. (We will find out how little on blower door test day!) This continuous insulation is so important when you see places, like near doors as in the photo above, that have multiple wood studs (meaning no cavity for insulation).

Cathedral-like view as one enters the front door

Front Bedroom- looks toward saved tree

In keeping with the traditional "cottage" style, most of the windows used here are traditional double hung style units. We elected for what they call "cottage style" divided lite patterns, which means the top sash only got divided into 6 smaller "lites"- all the better for seeing the view out the clear, bottom sash. Of course there are exceptions: the windows in the front bedroom could not meet the egress requirement as double hung units and so I specified casements there (see it open in the photo above?) with a simulated check rail and divided lite pattern similar to the double hung units used throughout the rest of the house, so they blend in. The windows that create the feature in the high gable wall in the Great Room have no divided lites, so the view is less obscured.

Back Bedroom windows look toward water

Great Room with lots of height and windows accentuating the lake view

Outside the exterior trim and shingle-style siding was being installed. These are some of the important details that lend the home the moniker "Adirondack Cottage". The shingle style siding in a warm green color (Certainteed brand "Spruce" Cedar Shake Style Siding) and helps lend an air of authentic, highly detailed natural cedar shake, while being "maintenance free" vinyl. This "shingle" infills around the windows and doors on most of the exterior walls, abutting the white edge trim. I detailed places with special trim and brackets, to call attention to the architecture at important places like the front porch, roof gables, and glass doors leading toward the lake. Especially note the traditional gable "crows foot" detail. These special touches, along with the one-and-a-half story building massing and the stone base details soon to come were all selected to reinforce the Adirondack feeling the clients wanted.