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His Family Sold Off the Lake Cabin—But Its Spirit Lives On in a New 1,000-Square-Foot Retreat

The owner returned to Glen Arbor to create a place where his family can make memories, as his great-great-grandfather’s home did for him.

Renowned firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson designed an understated 1,000-square-foot cabin in a lakeside town in Northern Michigan.

The cabin came about over whitefish sandwiches and iced teas. In a local tavern in a sleepy lakeside town in Northern Michigan, Pennsylvania-based couple Kevin and Anna broke bread, talked ideas, and drew a few initial sketches of a new retreat with Peter Bohlin and Bill James, the cofounder and architectural designer, respectively, of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ).

At a glance, the modest 1,000-square-foot cabin the group ultimately built is at odds with anything BCJ has done before, which includes glass-walled Apple stores, expansive yet restrained residences, and civic landmarks from libraries to university buildings. So how did the firm come to take on what, according to Kevin, is the firm’s smallest project yet?

The entry is painted John Deere–green in a nod to the area’s farming history. Architectural designer Bill James of BCJ spray painted metal samples in his backyard to find the right hue, shipping them to his client, Kevin, for review.

Photo by Corey Gaffer

Kevin grew up traveling from Pittsburgh to Lake Michigan, where his great-great-grandfather built a small cottage in the 1920s. He and his extended family would spend summer days at the tiny property; it was a place where Fourth of July weekend meant 15 people packed into the house, with Kevin sleeping in a bunk above his great-grandmother. After the cabin was sold in 2016, an event that Kevin compares to a death in the family, he wanted a similar retreat to continue making memories with his own growing family. As a kid, his favorite street in the area was a leafy one that dead-ended near the shores of Lake Michigan—and it still is. Recently, he and Anna purchased an empty parcel there with plans to build their own cabin by the lake.

Marine grade plywood forms the built-in storage spaces, adding a layer of warmth and texture to the restrained interior. — Marine-grade plywood forms built-in storage spaces, adding a layer of warmth and texture to the restrained interior.

Photo by Corey Gaffer

See the full story on Dwell.com: His Family Sold Off the Lake Cabin—But Its Spirit Lives On in a New 1,000-Square-Foot Retreat
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Is NYC’s Airbnb Crackdown Helping Housing? Plus, Everything Else You Need to Know About This Week

Nudists sue over a no-nudity rule in SoCal, Taiwan’s 7-Elevens are basically second homes, and more.

Two years after New York City cracked down on short-term rentals, the partying tourists might be gone, but so is any illusion that it would make a dent in the city’s housing crisis. Rents are still soaring and vacancies are still scarce. (The Wall Street Journal)
The new owners of a Southern California nudist resort have allegedly banned nudity, hiked rents, and let the place fall into disrepair, prompting a civil rights lawsuit from longtime residents. Olive Dell’s community says the "textile" rule they’re citing is just a way to push out nudists and boost property value. (The Guardian)
When asked to predict the 2025 Stirling Prize winner, ChatGPT picked one project in particular, Elizabeth Tower, calling it a "benchmark for national restoration." With the announcement just a few weeks away, we’ll see if AI’s crystal ball holds up to what the judges have to say. (Architect’s Journal)

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA - JANUARY 7: Spencer Pratt is seen watching the wildfire as it approaches his house on January 7, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, California. — Spencer Pratt is seen watching the wildfire as it approaches his house on January 7, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, California.

Photo by MEGA/GC Images

Former reality TV heel Spencer Pratt is now one of the Pacific Palisades’s loudest anti-density crusaders, using social media rants to derail California housing bills. Once dubbed "the garbage boyfriend of the world," Pratt is now fighting the YIMBY agenda with the same flair for drama that made The Hills a hit. (Politico)
Taiwan didn’t just import the American convenience store, it turned it into a 24/7 hub where you can pay your taxes, ship a package, dry clean your clothes, grab a hot meal, and even earn gym rewards. Here’s how Taiwan’s 7-Elevens have stretched the idea of convenience so far that for some, it’s no longer just a store, but a second home. (The Washington Post)

Top photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For $1.4M, You Can Score an A-Plus A-Frame in Northern Michigan

Designed by Spot Lab, the brand-new home makes the grade with pegboard shelving, cubbys galore, and a bathroom enveloped in pink tile.

Location: 5277 Tyrol Lane, Harbor Springs, Michigan

Price: $1,395,000

Year Built: 2025

Designer: Spot Lab

Footprint: 2,3000 square feet (4 bedrooms, 2 baths)

Lot Size: 0.34 Acres

From the Agent: "Nestled in the coveted Hidden Hamlet neighborhood—just steps from the slopes of the Nub’s Nob ski resort—is a one-of-a-kind, new construction A-frame designed to elevate up north living. Hidden Hamlet is known for its quirky charm and architectural character, populated by A-frames and forest-inspired dwellings. With three bedrooms, a generous loft, and an additional lofted nook within one of the bedrooms, this home comfortably sleeps a crowd, making it ideal for ski weekends, summer retreats, and family holidays. The upper level showcases vertical-grain Douglas fir flooring and details, glass interior railings for uninterrupted sight lines, and a stunning zero-barrier shower with a heated bench. Finished with a 1.5-car garage tricked out for ski and toy storage, Overstory is a modern home with roots in the forest and a design that reaches for the sky!"

Thanks to a rare zoning variance, the home is the tallest in the neighborhood reaching similar heights to the surrounding trees. — Due to a rare zoning variance, the home is the tallest in the neighborhood.

Photo by Spot Lab

Design-build firm Spot Lab kitted out the entry with built-in cabinetry, seating, and pegboard hangers.

Photo by Spot Lab

See the full story on Dwell.com: For $1.4M, You Can Score an A-Plus A-Frame in Northern Michigan
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There’s So Much Greenery at This London Home, You’d Hardly Know You Were in the City

The lot is hemmed in by neighboring courtyards that only enhance the open and airy residence’s sense of remove.

Houses We Love: Every day we feature a remarkable space submitted by our community of architects, designers, builders, and homeowners. Have one to share? Post it here.

Project Details:

Location: London, United Kingdom

Architect: Studioshaw / @studioshaw

Footprint: 1,050 square feet

Builder: Lita Construction Ltd

Structural Engineer: HTS

Landscape Design: Charlie Hawkes

Photographer: James Brittain / @jamesbrittainphotographs

From the Architect: "Architect Mark Shaw, founding director of Studioshaw, embarked on building his own home after a chance discovery of a disused MOT garage in Walthamstow, East London. Studioshaw entirely reconfigured previous planning consents to create a contemporary, light-filled home that responds to the site’s unique character—a pocket of land surrounded by Victorian terraced houses and gardens. The studio navigated a complex planning and consents process, including 27 party wall agreements.

"The result is a carefully crafted retreat—an oasis of calm within the city—designed to maximize natural light and sun exposure, embrace nature, and create a connection between indoor and outdoor areas. The 1,050-square-foot home is organized around three courtyards, each with a distinct purpose. The main courtyard is oriented to capture maximum winter sunlight, while the other two are thoughtfully designed to enhance biodiversity and ecological variety. The greenery and planting scheme was devised in collaboration with gardener Charlie Hawkes.

"The external spaces are divided into three distinct areas, beginning with a planted arrival corridor that guides visitors into the property. The pathway then curves inward, drawing the eye through the building towards the central courtyard. At the end of an east-west axis, a secluded outdoor bathroom provides a tranquil retreat, featuring a sunken bathtub, enveloped by lush, jungle-like greenery—oﬀering a striking contrast to the dense urban surroundings and creating a true escape from city life.

"The neighboring Victorian houses and gardens influenced the form of the building, with its layout optimized to bring in daylight, particularly during winter months. Accessed via a shared driveway and enclosed by the rear gardens of neighboring properties, the house remains private while feeling open and airy. Internally, the space is highly zoned, providing dedicated areas for cooking, relaxing, and entertaining, all while framing views—including those overlooking the nearby natural reserve of Walthamstow Marshes.

"A restrained material and texture palette—comprising fair-faced concrete blocks, timber, and anodized aluminum windows—was chosen to minimize construction complexity and long-term maintenance. The home also integrates sustainable design principles, including passive ventilation measures to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. An air source heat pump, paired with enhanced insulation and a whole-house heat-recovery ventilation system, further reduces energy demand, ensuring year-round comfort with minimal environmental impact.

"The surrounding Victorian garden boundary walls were carefully reconstructed, seamlessly adapting to the building’s structure, which consists of two partially sunken concrete volumes, topped by a lightweight timber roof. The subtle roof pitches allow for a dynamic play of natural light and carefully frame views of the sky while ensuring no overlooking of adjacent properties."

See the full story on Dwell.com: There’s So Much Greenery at This London Home, You’d Hardly Know You Were in the City

Icons Only: The Price You Pay to Keep Up Paul Rudolph’s "Fallingwater"

A year of routine work on the American architect’s 1970s extension to a wooded midcentury has run the current owner over $1 million. But that’s the cost of protecting a masterpiece.

Welcome to Icons Only, a series about loving restorations of historically significant homes.

Like yachts and Kentucky thoroughbreds, midcentury-modern homes are money pits. Nobody knows this better than Marlaina Deppe, the owner of Paul Rudolph’s Bernhard Residence, a symbol of postwar cool on a rocky ledge overlooking the Byram River and a vast tract of Audubon forest in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Novo Arts founder and president Marlaina Deppe bought the Bernhard Residence in 2022. The house was originally built in 1957 but was renovated and added to by Paul Rudolph in 1976. — Novo Arts founder and president Marlaina Deppe bought the Bernhard Residence in 2022. The house was originally built in 1957 but was renovated with an addition by Paul Rudolph in 1976.

Photo: Allison Minto

In the past year alone, Marlaina has spent over $1 million just on routine home improvements, ranging from a new roof and landscaping to patching stone walls and replacing cracked flagstones. As the founder and president of New York–based consultancy firm Novo Arts, which curates and custom-fabricates fine art for Fortune 500 clients, this is an undertaking she can well afford. But it’s passion that fuels this preservation project. "The house blew me right out of the water," Marlaina says of the first time she visited the property when it went on the market in 2022. "I had to have it at any cost."

That cost turned out to be $3.2 million, a sealed bid that beat six other offers. (Local brokers insist that’s a steal for a house on a secluded four-acre plot with gardens, a guesthouse, and a pool.)

Elevation sketch of the Bernhard Residence addition — The Rudolph-designed addition is composed of exposed wood beams and columns that support the structure. The screened porch at the end of the plan—seen left in its current state, and right in Rudolph’s original sketches—is cantilevered 25 feet above a ravine.

From left: Photo by Allison Minto; © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture

Walking through the house, Marlaina—dressed in black today, with the only splash of color in her candy-hued glasses—stops at a massive stone fireplace wrapped in steel. She explains that when Rudolph renovated and expanded the existing 1950s residence in the late ’70s for its then owners Robert and Joan Bernhard, he instructed the contractor to leave the cladding outside, exposed to the elements like a Richard Serra sculpture, until it acquired just the right patina. She points to the rusted surround and frowns; behind it, a problem lurks. "This week, I’m having the chimney vents replaced—that’s $25,000."

The punch list continues: "Next month I’m fixing the A/C system," she says. "That’s another $35,000. None of this is cosmetic. It’s just regular maintenance."

Marlaina shrugs. When you live in an architectural icon, this is the cost of doing business. The work is painstaking, the pace glacial. That’s primarily because she insists on the best craftsmanship and remaining faithful to Rudolph’s vision, which was designed so the Bernhards could host dinner parties and display their modern art collection.

Rudolph’s design turned the existing living room into a dining area, with a new living room, sitting room, and screened porch in the addition. A custom light fixture designed by Rudolph and fabricated by his lighting company Modulightor hangs above the dining table near the oxidized steel fireplace that’s framed with stones rescued from the dismantled garage. — Rudolph turned the existing living room into a dining area, with a new living room, sitting room, and screened porch in the addition. The Machine Age chandelier above Marlaina’s dining table (right) was "made by a guy in L.A. who does props for the *Batman* movies," she says. The oxidized steel fireplace, seen in Rudolph’s sketch (left), is framed with stones from the dismantled garage.

From left: © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture; photo by Allison Minto

See the full story on Dwell.com: Icons Only: The Price You Pay to Keep Up Paul Rudolph’s "Fallingwater"

How They Pulled It Off: A Triangular Parking Lot Transforms Into a Secret Urban Garden

Curved paths, organic plantings, and a glass atrium gave new life—literally and figuratively—to a former industrial lot in Chicago.

<span style="font-family: Theinhardt, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;">The home and garden are located in A</span><span style="font-family: Theinhardt, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;">vondale, one of Chicago’s historically working-class neighborhoods with a long history as a manufacturing and distribution hub thanks to its proximity to the Chicago River and railway lines.</span>

Welcome to How They Pulled It Off, where we take a close look at one particularly challenging aspect of a home design and get the nitty-gritty details about how it became a reality.

When Sarah and Dylan Whitcher first laid eyes on the former warehouse in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood, it was love at first sight—a building with personality and patina was at the top of their list. "After renting a loft in a converted comptometer factory for several years, we fell in love with the industrial warmth of old buildings," says Sarah. "We didn’t want a white-box house. We wanted exposed brick, old tin ceilings, vintage details—something that told a story."

The opening in the fence serves as the main entrance onto the property, with bluestone pavers leading you in through the blackened steel arbor.

Photo by John Boehm

And after a renovation of the former book bindery by local architecture firm Slowtide.Studio, Sarah and Dylan were ready to tackle the former parking lot for the industrial building. With its triangular shape, shady orientation, and previous use for parking trucks, it didn’t necessarily scream "cozy urban garden" from the get-go. But the landscape architects at Chicago-based The Outside Design Studio (TODS) team immediately had ideas.

Sarah, who works in operations for a global communications firm, and Dylan, who runs a local family business, wanted the space to be multipurpose. "They had a lot they wanted to fit into the space: lounging, entertaining, cooking, and dining, as well as a parking pad, and it also needed to serve as the main circulation route into the residence," explains TODS partner Paul Blanding.

See the full story on Dwell.com: How They Pulled It Off: A Triangular Parking Lot Transforms Into a Secret Urban Garden

If You Love Sea Ranch But Live in L.A., This $2.7M Home Splits the Difference

Drawing inspiration from the legendary coastal community, Rubin Studios clad the hillside home in cedar and revamped its interiors with timber, stone, and tile.

Location: 5698 Holly Oak Drive, Los Angeles, California

Price: $2,700,000

Year Built: 1965

Renovation Date: 2023

Renovation Designer: Rubin Studios

Interior Stylist: Francesca Grace

Footprint: 3,986 square feet (4 bedrooms, 5 baths)

Lot Size: 0.23 Acres

From the Agent: "Tucked away at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the coveted Oaks of Los Feliz, 5698 Holly Oak is a private, design-forward sanctuary with sweeping city views. Multiple balconies and large picture windows frame iconic vistas of Los Angeles while maintaining an intimate sense of seclusion. The main level flows effortlessly from one stylish space to the next, accented by organic materials and thoughtful color palettes that bring warmth and character throughout. A separate office offers a quiet, dedicated workspace ideal for working from home or creative pursuits. The lower level includes a spacious bedroom, bar, and lounge area perfectly suited for guest quarters, a music or recording studio, or a private retreat. Outside, you’ll find a grassy area and dining patio amongst the trees."

Many of the pieces Francesca Grace furnished the home with come from her personal collection at her store, SOMME. — Designer and stylist Francesca Grace furnished the home with pieces from her store, SOMME.

Will Myers

See the full story on Dwell.com: If You Love Sea Ranch But Live in L.A., This $2.7M Home Splits the Difference
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