A Brooklyn Couple Builds an Energy-Efficient Home on Washinee Lake

Bensonwood created the striking steel-and-white-oak staircase in this Salisbury home, while interior designer Claudia Kalur paired the couple’s own rug with two mid-century chairs.

A hefty mahogany entry door is paired with triple-glazed sidelights to maximize efficiency.

Kalur selected a Missoni wool rug, leather swivel chairs, and a Herman Miller Nelson Cigar Lotus floor lamp for the office. “We wanted it to feel like a library,” she says.

The large great room proved a design challenge for Kalur, but she met it by dividing the living space into two back-to-back conversation areas.

Behind the double-sided fireplace, a lounging area with windows on three sides feels like you are “sitting among the trees,” says homeowner Bill Reiland.

Reiland, an avid home cook, designed his dream kitchen with two induction cooktops. The house is so energy efficient and airtight, he was advised not to get a gas range for safety.

Gray and black accents in the kitchen, including a steel range hood and backsplash, black granite countertops, and gray stools from Gubi, break up all the wood from the Douglas fir ceilings, white-oak floors, and custom cabinetry.

For storage, Bensonwood designed a series of closets in the primary suite with clear vertical-grain Douglas fir.

The primary bath is finished with Tuscan Grey sandstone floor tiles, white-oak cabinetry, and marble countertops.

Kalur wanted the primary bedroom to feel like a sanctuary, so everything is soft and layered: textured linens on the bed, a wool rug underfoot, an upholstered headboard, and a tufted bench by Williams Sonoma Home.

The lower-level sleepover space sports a navy and green Patterson Flynn performance rug so there are no worries when the kids come in from the pool.

Reiland wanted a patio designed around the pièce de résistance: his Argentinian grill. Landscape Architect Jana Bryan collaborated with a local metal shop to design a steel fence that undulates out to the garage rather than progresses in a straight line.

Landscape Architect Jana Bryan collaborated with a local metal shop to design a steel fence that undulates out to the garage rather than progresses in a straight line.

The homeowners worked with landscapers to remove select trees without clear-cutting down to the lake; “We wanted to create an informal, natural, and contemplative landscape,” says Bryan.

Designing a Sustainable Lake House Retreat in Salisbury

Brooklynites Bill and Kathy Reiland knew exactly what they wanted for their second home on Washinee Lake in Salisbury when they sat down with the architects at Bensonwood.

Efficiency and respect for the land it sits on had to be at the forefront of the contemporary design. An avid cook, Bill wanted a spacious and high-performance kitchen and multiple patios and grills.

Since it is a weekend home, the couple wanted room to entertain; but given that they also occasionally come up weekdays to see their son play sports at his boarding school in Kent, they knew they would need dedicated space to work from home, so a quiet his-and-her office was vital.

What they didn’t know was that the results would feel more like home to them than they could have imagined. “Now that we’ve been coming up four or five years, it’s really a second home,” says Bill. The couple has since downsized from their Brooklyn abode to an apartment on the Upper West Side, and they love to spend weekends and holidays at their Connecticut house.

Thoughtful Site Planning Maximizes Views

Siting the home on its 41.5-acre lot was key. “We worked closely with the architects and the forester to place and orient the house in a way that takes advantage of the views and the relationship to the lake and trails established around the property,” says Jana Bryan, a landscape architect with the firm Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio. “A buffer of large trees remains at the lake’s edge to maintain and support the natural condition.”

Instead of a lawn, Bryan designed a meadow of wildflowers and native grasses that comes right up to the house and pool. Boardwalks allow wetlands and wildlife to thrive underfoot. Case in point, the community of snapping turtles that migrates from the lake every year to lay their eggs on the property.

“Views of the lake and the mountains beyond were important to Bill and Kathy,” says Bensonwood architect Steven Dumont, who took advantage of the sloping site to give two of the home’s three levels direct access to the lake. Bensonwood built the home’s wall, floor, and roof panels off-site and then worked with Cela Builders, who assembled and finished everything on-site, resulting in the type of energy-efficient home the Reilands wanted.

Minimalist Interiors Blend Style and Sustainability

“We minimized the amount of glass, strategically placing windows and doors to frame certain views,” says Dumont. That strategy allowed the mechanical engineer to keep the geothermal system, and the energy it requires, minimal. Solar panels on the detached garage further reduce electricity usage.

Minimalism carries through to the interiors. Clean lines and natural wood take center stage. “I wanted it to feel modern and light and airy, but I knew they did not want a neutral palette,” says interior designer Claudia Kalur of CFK Interiors. She incorporated serene blues, grays, and purples throughout and prioritized gathering areas like the large custom dining table with hand-hammered legs by RT Facts in Kent and the comfy back-to-back eight-foot-long sofas. “They entertain in all these spaces,” attests Kalur. “There are no pretensions. They wanted a house they can live in that is beautiful and eco-friendly.”

Project Team
Architecture: Bensonwood
Interior design: CFK Interiors Design Studio
Builders: Bensonwood, Cela Builders
Landscape design: Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio

Styled by Anna Molvik