Copake Lake House | Craryville, New York | 2021

Lead Architects: Katherine Chia and Arjun Desai
Design Team: Ryan Erb and Dustin Heim
Landscape Architects: Jamie Purinton
General Contractor: Stratton Building Company
Client: Private
Photographers: Paul Warchol

The Copake Lake House engages this lakefront property through a series of framed volumetric compositions and material details that capture views of the water.

Cantilevering program elements create a flow between indoor and outdoor social programs while also shading the outdoor seating areas below. The position of the cantilevers responds to the spacing of existing tall oak trees that are growing along the water’s edge.

Cast-in-place concrete defines the base plinth of the home while lightly charred Shou sugi ban siding wraps the rest of the façade in a tailored way. The home’s interiors are expressive of their materials and structure.

The lake views from the sunken living room make one feel nestled within the water. By lowering the living room, the lake views from the adjacent dining area are unobstructed as well.

An upper window on the high side of the vault was positioned to allow sunlight to rake the crisscrossing members from mid-afternoon to early evening and bounce warm light into the spaces below.