A Midcentury Modern–Inspired Guesthouse

Carol Kurth, who designed this Bedford, New York, guesthouse, found the foyer’s Stacy Milburn mirror artwork at Sorelle Gallery in Westport. Peter Tunney created the art adorning the opposite wall.

You’d never know the cottage’s great room used to be a garage. It now impresses with an Uttermost coffee table, Kuzco sconces, and a cozy Calligaris sectional sofa—the better to fit the home’s many guests

Kurth and her team selected a ribbon-like fixture from Luke Lamp Co. to illuminate the island in the streamlined kitchen.

The cottage, which Kurth notes channels midcentury modern and International styles, finds balance in its solid-void rhythm of stucco and ribbed-wood walls juxtaposed with ribbon clerestory windows and expanses of glass

The dining area’s minimalist palette and furnishings—an all-gray Calligaris table and chairs and a custom banquette—keep the focus squarely on the colorful forest views seen through the large windows and glass walls. The artwork hanging behind the banquette is by Stefan Radtke.

Kurth had this bedroom’s walls clad in a Maya Romanoff covering, adding Astro sconces and drapes in a Holly Hunt fabric.

Two of the bunk room’s built-in beds have queen-sized mattresses below and twins above, making the space more comfortable for adults; Sanborn Canoe Co. created custom color combinations for the painted oars on the upper bunks’ rails.

When longtime clients came to Carol Kurth and asked her to reinvent the modest guest cottage on their vacation property, she couldn’t say yes fast enough. Not only had the architect/interior designer already worked on the midcentury modern–inspired main house, but she’d also actually helped the homeowners find the six-plus-acre lakefront Bedford, New York, property in the first place. “The setting has all the makings of a summer camp,” Kurth says, explaining that the clients envisioned gathering there with their three children and many grandkids.

For this crew of frequent guests, Kurth conceived a compact cottage whose stacked-stone walls, ribbed–wood cladding, large expanses of glass, and low-slung linear horizontality would reflect the modern look and natural materials of the main house. “There are some International Style elements to it,” says the architect, noting that Philip Johnson’s iconic Glass House sits nearby in New Canaan.

The bungalow makes the most of its 2,150 square feet, packing in two amply sized bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a bunk room and a great room that combines living, dining, and kitchen areas. It never feels cramped, however, because “what we don’t have in square footage, we have in volume,” says Kurth. “That makes everything look larger than it is.” So does the light that flows in from the windows, glass doors, skylights, and transoms that prove key to her design.

The consistent palette of cool colors and warm natural materials used throughout—Kurth’s firm handled both architecture and interiors—also helps the home feel expansive. Walls covered with stacked ashlar stone or clad with wooden ribbed boards extend from outside to in, connecting the building to the surrounding forested lakefront. And slate gray-blue hues, inspired by the lake, ensure everything coheres beautifully.

Though it didn’t lack for surprises—ultimately requiring much more rethinking and rebuilding than originally anticipated—the construction of the cottage proved as seamless as its ultimate design, says builder Joe Luppino, who’s collaborated with Kurth for two decades. “I always treat projects as if I were going to be the one to live in them, but especially on this one, between our team and the clients, who I became friends with, there were good vibes.”

Project Team
Architecture and interior design: Carol Kurth Architecture + Interiors
Builder: Luppino Builders Corp.
Landscape design: Steven R. Krog