Dockside Chat - Type of lake house preferred?

About to build a house on a lake. Wife and I are batting around designs. Thinking of a one story with a basement or a two story with no basement. Looking for advice for which one? Also, master on main floor or all bedrooms up? I'm thinking the higher the better for the views but how much will I really view the lake from my bedroom? I can build close to the water so maybe den and kitchen closer to the water but not high? Any shared experiences are appreciated. Thanks.

For as long as I have been alive my family has owned homes in the Poconos. It's a fairly large community that surrounds a moderately sized lake(3 miles long 1/2 mile wide). While we have never owned one of the houses on the lake I can tell you a little about the ones I kayak by all the time.

Depending on the typography of the lot, most land is at an angle sloping down towards the lake. If this is the case you can do one-two stories in the front and have a walk out basement in the rear. DO NOT have a enclosed basement it will be musty all the time! Have the basement walls exposed as much as possible to the outside.

Some of the other features I like:

Adirondack look and standing seem metal roof
Large post and beam front exterior
floor-ceiling field stone fireplace.
Nice large rear deck


It all depends on budget and zoning.

Go with a tiberframe house. They are beautiful. Timberpeg makes a nice house.

We have a two story lake home here in Louisiana. We recently tore it down and completely rebuilt. Master, kitchen and living are one first floor with one extra guest bedroom. Kitchen and Living room overlook the lake with a wall of windows. Large back porch also with great lake view. Other bedrooms and bathroom upstairs overlooking lake, but not as good of a view as downstairs has. House is about 40 feet from the lake's edge so we had to build it up to get out of the flood plain. Contractor built a 4 foot high concrete retaining wall, drove 25 pilings within the parameters of the wall (for settling purposes) and then back filled the entire area with dirt. 6" slab was put on top of that. Came out great. My family has someone there almost every weekend (family, not renters)

Photos would help describe it all.
One from the lake looking at the house and one from the house looking at the lake.

Seems like bedrooms upstairs with a small balcony to be able to step out in the morning to stretch and get a breath of morning air.
The main floor where everyone will be most of the time should have a lot of glass, multiple sliding doors to a large deck that wraps that end of the house with a nice wide set of steps that lead down to the dock / water.
Storage underneath (out of sight, out of mind) for all the water toys, boat stuff and lawn maintenance tools.






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The lake view from the bedroom, living room and the kitchen would be a must and having a basement for bad storms and a mancave would also be a must. Congrats on building the new house but keep it down to as many maintenence free components as possible. Painting, get pre colored materials, even hardi siding, shake material, etc comes in baked colors. There's also a beautiful siding made in Macon, Ga. that's a shake material that will last forever. When your getting older it even hurts to cut grass. My favorite is the darker brown like's shown in the link in the photos below and then the company link's at the lower portion of this page.

https://www.google.com/search?q=nichiha+siding+photos&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=rYn&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=FWwzUM3LCYam8ASW9QE&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=901


http://www.nichiha.com/

My $.02, if you have the lot size do single story. Have a quest wing on the opposite of the master with common areas in the middle. Make it totally barrier free, with wide doors. Sliding doors that disappear are nice if you live in a bug free area if not...as much glass as you can afford on the lake side. A huge porch will expand the living area and protect glass from passive solar heat. Consider screening a portion of the porch for bug free dining. Over size the garage - over size the garage - over size the garage. Make a large portion quality storage.

Is the lot flat? If so I would build a one story, in the center would be a den with 20' ceilings and a wall of windows, probably 2 or 3 sliding doors, beside the den would be a open kitchen with all the fixens.
At one end of the house would be 3 bed rooms for our main family, then the other end would be a large game room with pool table and other fun stuff with wall of windows facing the lake.
Then over the 3 car garage I would have a guest suite, with a small corner bathroom.
I would either build a log style or a regular house with a stone face on the outside.

I would have a nice high end heat and ac system for the main house, and I would put a ductless system in the guest suite.

I would think something in the 3500sqft range would be a perfect size, and one where you could really load the inside up with some high end stuff, I would also go with high ceilings and 8' doors, also I would have rounded corners on the walls.

Lake living can be awsome, with a lot of raft ups and more boating because if the lake isn't too big then there is rarely rough water.

Good luck.