Modern Candlewood Lake House by Doyle Coffin Architecture and Jody Fierz

Maryellen McQuade has been visiting Candlewood Lake since she was a little girl. Now she and her family and friends finally get to pull up their own lakeside chair(s). A balcony that comes to a point off the guest bedrooms “plays with the idea of a ship’s prow,” says architect Peter Coffin. “The cable railing mimics the railing on a boat.”

Dividing the home into separate volumes created what Coffin calls a “view corridor” out to the lake from neighbors’ houses across the street. Traditional white shingles nod to the neighborhood vernacular, while horizontal wood shiplap ties the volumes together.

Interior designer Jody Fierz kept furnishings streamlined and minimalist; McQuade commissioned the painting from abstract artist Alissa Leigh.

The marbled wood of the Arhaus dining table adds a bit of heft to the light and airy space; Fierz rounded it out with custom-made chairs from Adriana Hoyos.

In the kitchen, the brown under-cabinetry against the white mimics the home’s two-toned exterior siding and “keeps that contrast moving,” says Fierz.

“We designed the kitchen to avoid having upper cabinets at the lake end,” Coffin says. Fierz gave the room an understated yet unified look by extending the quartz surface from the countertops up the walls.

It’s easy to soak in the view while soaking in the Kohler Rêve freestanding tub.

The homeowners can also enjoy the spectacular scenery from the iconic Barcelona chairs or from the deck just off their bedroom.

A floating vanity with a mahogany finish makes a striking contrast against Oasis Cloud glass subway tiles from Garden State Tile.

Four interconnected decks span three levels and are among McQuade’s favorite spots for lounging. “Every morning we have coffee on the deck right outside the living room [lower middle],” she says. “The other spot we love is the roof-deck. As the sun sets, but it’s still kind of light out, you can see almost all the way down the lake.”

Persistence Pays off when Creating your Dream Home

Maryellen McQuade had been stalking—her word—a house on Candlewood Lake for the better part of a decade. It wasn’t the home she loved but the view from atop its sloped, well-situated lot. It allowed the eye to sweep unobstructed over the water rather than bump right into homes on an opposite shore.

“I of course was tracking it on Zillow,” McQuade says. “The day it finally came on the market, I went running downstairs. ‘David, the house is for sale!’ ”

“I’ll go look at it,” her husband responded.

“You don’t need to,” she told him.

That wasn’t only because her mind was made up. It was also clear the house would have to come down.

Creating a home that Maximizes Lake Views

Architect Peter Coffin of Doyle Coffin Architecture explains that the existing home was “weirdly configured, low-slung with low ceilings. And it had been added onto a bunch of times. It was just an awkward place.” His mandate, once the teardown was complete, was to perform a hat trick: 1. Design a larger, 4,000-square-foot home within the existing footprint to meet zoning regulations; 2. Build upward to create the extra space without blocking the lake view from the homes behind; and 3. Create something in the contemporary style that McQuade and her husband, David Chung, favor without offending their neighbors’ traditional sensibilities—it would be the first home of its kind in the neighborhood.

Coffin scored on all fronts. For instance, by going with a flat roof, he was able to take the ceiling height from seven to ten feet in most rooms and create a third story without going higher than the highest ridge on the original house. He also created decks on virtually every level for easy indoor/outdoor entertaining and general lolling about.

He didn’t do badly inside, either. It’s impossible not to enjoy the view of the lake wherever you are—the kitchen sink, the tub in the primary bathroom, the bed….

Interior designer Jody Fierz walked her own line by conjuring a modern, minimalist vibe, but not one so studied or precious that you couldn’t relax. “It’s not a typical contemporary,” she says, “because they wanted people to be able to just drop their things and enjoy themselves. They wanted to live there, not, not breathe there.”

Project Team
Architecture: Doyle Coffin Architecture
Interior design: Doyle Coffin Interior Design; Jody Fierz Interior Design
Builder: Robert B. Hickey Associates