Lahontan
Truckee, California
Project Outline
A new residence in an environmentally and culturally sensitive landscape.
Lahontan is a second home for an extended family who gathers in various iterations throughout the year.
Rendered in the Grand Tahoe Lodge style, the building captures the spirit and character expected of the landscape for the owners and guests. It reflects the substance and tradition of an architecture fitted to a harsh yet dramatic environment.
Project Components
A grand lodge with six guest rooms plus a Master "Cabin." Designed to accommodate numerous guests ranging from friends to business associates, multiple privacy strata are orchestrated to reflect varying levels of interaction / privacy.
The detailing is substantial, durable and timeless, offering users a sense of participation in the enduring traditions of recreational architecture present in the Tahoe Basin.
The Master "Cabin" element is rendered to feel comfortable when only the Owners occupy the home. This element engages the kitchen, master room and great room in a configuration that feels right when no one else is in the building: not too large, not too empty.
When the house is full, privacy is "switched" on easily via careful orchestration of interior vistas and physical suggestions of boundary and territory.
The project required a daunting review and approval process involving multiple agencies as well as private discretionary control of design and planning. Success required careful navigation and design logistics to avoid dead ends and wasted resources.
