Water of Love
A renovation that makes the lake part of life  

It’s often said that when it comes to love, the heart knows what it wants. The maxim is likely to be just as true for homes. After summering on East Twin Lake for several years, Patrick Walker and Elizabeth Demetriades relocated their practice and personal lives from New York City to their adopted home of Salisbury. “Some people are inspired by a more hectic pace; and some people, like us, are inspired by nature and the changing seasons,” Elizabeth says of their decision to drop anchor here. Though she was born and raised in the city and he grew up a world away in West Virginia, the couple shares a fondness for animals, water, and open spaces. A fondness that drove them to make a permanent move, and in the process, rescue a house that was suffering from an identity crisis. 

There was a place for sale in the neighborhood where they often spent the summer, but the vinyl-clad house had been “re-muddled” so many times that Elizabeth and Patrick really didn’t see any potential in it. Sited on a private road that looks out across the water to Isola Bella Island, the 1,400-square-foot house wasn’t so much built as “evolved.” From its humble beginnings as a tent, its peculiar architectural history included successive incarnations as a shack, camp house, and finally a full-fledged residence. The pastiche of fixes and upgrades over the years resulted in a two-story dwelling with three small bedrooms and poor flow from room to room. Still, the location was unbeatable. After being persuaded to give it another look, the couple realized that it just might work—after they employed a little imagination and a whole lot of innovation. 

Renovation began by adding lots of windows and removing a second-floor bedroom, giving the living room a loft ceiling and visually expanding the space. The couple’s goal was for the redesign to blend into the neighborhood and into the 21^st century. “The most site-responsible thing we did here was to make the house as inconspicuous as possible,” says Patrick. “We spent a lot of time on the lake looking at houses and seeing how ours could be recessive along the shore line.” To achieve this, they installed darker windows to match the siding and an “evergreen” copper roof with the appearance of weathered verdigris. To that they added thoughtful landscaping like the maple and birch trees that look as though they might have grown there naturally.

Despite its small size, the sweeping views and open plan make the Lake House feel expansive. Working with local builder Roger Hedman of Lakeland Renovations, the twosome created an airy, space-savvy design with no interior doors, each area separated by modulations in floor or ceiling height. “With energy efficiency a priority, the open plan allows us to heat almost exclusively with a woodstove, fueled by wood from fallen trees,” says Elizabeth. The choice of unfussy, modern architecture helps blur the line between inside and out. During the winter the generous use of insulated windows allows views of the frozen lake, dotted here and there with ice fishermen and skaters.

The kitchen needed the most help. Formica counters, pine cabinets, and about three inches of old flooring were removed. A small bath was eliminated and the space was reconfigured to make room for the center island and pantry. A bay window was replaced with a wall of windows and doors to the deck and lake, giving the couple easy access to favorite summer activities—rowing, fishing, waterskiing, and wakeboarding.

Calm, white walls and a range of warm, wood tones add coziness to the space, while vibrant punches of color, like the cerulean-blue stairs and apple-green accents, add energy to the understated palette. Brazilian Santos mahogany floors throughout the house have a beautiful reddish-brown hue. Three coats of polyurethane help protect the wood against water the couple—or Jo, their exuberant five-year-old Kerry Blue terrier—may track in.

Proximity to the lake meant no alteration to the footprint of the house. “Very often, restrictions result in the best project,” says Elizabeth, who views the constraints as a challenge and not a limitation. Even though it posed certain difficulties in the redesign, the pair had great fun taking on the project together. The results reflect the labor of love that made a home of this quirky old house on the lake.

By Elena Dixon