A Lakeside Cabin Conjures Up Midcentury Magic in New Hampshire
KCS Architects renovates a cabin with 1950s camp vibes for modern-day living without sacrificing its rustic roots.
KCS Architects renovates a cabin with 1950s camp vibes for modern-day living without sacrificing its rustic roots.
Architect Katie Cassidy Sutherland’s clients wanted to preserve just about every aspect of their 1950s lakeside cabin in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire—especially the knotty pine wall boards, the stained ceiling beams, and even the trees that partially obscured the spectacular water view. What they were eager to remedy, however, was the cabin’s unrelenting chill.
Doors flank the main seating area of the living space. The owners purchased the Heywood Wakefield chairs from Strictly Hey-Wake in Hagerstown, Maryland near the wife’s childhood home. "I’d always wanted Heywood Wakefield furniture, and it fits in really well here," she says.
Photo by Jared Kuzia
Mike Secore at MGS Architectural Millwork in Marlborough, New Hampshire built the kitchen cabinetry, which boasts panels in white and natural maple. Teal-colored concrete countertops fabricated and installed by Portland-based Zen Stoneworks add color and accentuate the midcentury-modern vibe.
Photo by Jared Kuzia
The couple tasked Sutherland with insulating, updating, and slightly expanding the cabin without sacrificing its camp-like feel. In order to preserve the interior walls and ceiling boards, which were the underside of the roof’s board sheathing, Sutherland approached the project from the outside.
First, the team removed the exterior siding, along with the roof. Next, they surrounded the shell of the cabin with two layers of two-inch-thick sheets of rigid insulation, which Sutherland likens to a new winter coat. Following a new superstructure of strapping, they applied rot-resistant, vertical Alaskan yellow cedar sheathing and red asphalt roof shingles. "We kept details minimal to celebrate the 1950s modernism," Sutherland says.
The owners commissioned Claypoole Hexsigns in Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania, to copy the cabin’s original hex sign, which hung in the same spot. "The original one was deteriorated, so we ultimately commissioned a new one," the wife says. "It means ‘Good Luck in All Four Seasons of the Year.’"
Photo by Jared Kuzia
See the full story on Dwell.com: A Lakeside Cabin Conjures Up Midcentury Magic in New Hampshire
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