DESIGN

a house on the LAKE

STORY TERRI GLAZER PHOTOGRAPHY ERIN AUSTEN ABBOTT

For one North Mississippi couple, living on the lake is the fulfillment of a dream they didn’t even realize they had until it came to be as a result of a design process that underwent several iterations. That’s because their home is literally on a lake in Splinter Creek community eight miles west of Oxford.

The husband and wife both hail from the area, and they knew they wanted their forever home to be near a college town, so building in Splinter Creek made sense to them. They were impressed with the work of Lake Flato, a Texas-based architectural firm that devised the master plan for the community, so they asked them to design their home.

The homeowner recalls, “Their first iteration had the house sited along a ridge, running perpendicular to the lake. The screen porch, which was closest to the lake, was right on the water. My husband and I wanted to capture more views of the beautiful lake so we thought, ‘What if we flipped the house and made it parallel to the lake so that every room has a water view?’”

The architects obliged, but still sited the structure on the shore. However, as the design process continued the home’s location moved to partially over water, then finally to completely on top of the water. “It’s connected by a small walking bridge from the land to the house,” the homeowner explains. “We didn’t set out that way, but it seemed like a good idea.”

Good idea, indeed. The mid-century modern home is a stunning example of a concept central to the architectural guidelines of Splinter Creek—that all structures in the community “live lightly on the land.” With the emphasis on the land, the water and the view, the home is long and narrow, only 17 feet wide. That fact is barely noticeable, though. About 60 percent of the walls are glass, maximizing expansive views of the lake, and the interior floor plan Lake Flato created lends an open, roomy feel.

Roomy, but intimate, says the homeowner. “Traditionally in Lake Flato’s portfolio, they’re very much about human scale. And there’s something about a room that’s not massive in any sense. You can have a conversation across the room...We have expansive views looking out of the house, but a real feel of intimacy as you sit in the living room or on the screen porch or in the kitchen.”

The concept of scale was also crucial in the choice of furnishings for the home. While the owners have always been partial to contemporary design, this is their first mid-century modern style residence, so all the furnishings were acquired specifically to fit it. “We were pretty consistent when we began furnishing the house. Large, overstuffed sofas, for example, would have taken up half the living room, so we had to keep that in mind,” the homeowner recalls.

To that end, she filled the house with pieces that not only respect its scale, but add an artistic element. Several tables are works by George Nakashima, an innovator in furniture design in the 20th century and a father of the American craft movement. “He really embraced live-edge pieces of wood and the scale is just perfect for this house,” she says.

The couple has been collecting ceramics for years, and their lake home has heightened their interest in threedimensional art. “With so much glass in the house, we only have a few areas where we can hang art on the walls,” the homeowner points out.

One of the pieces acquired for the home is a spectacular chandelier designed in the 1960s by Swedish glass artist Eric Hoglund. The homeowner spotted it in a New Jersey auction house on a trip to see ceramics while the house was still in the design phase. After some quick calculations, she found that its size would work perfectly in the dining room, so she bought it and had it packed and shipped to Mississippi. She recalls, “When we finished the house and got it out of the box 18 months later, it was like an unveiling! It really pulled the design together.”

The homeowner adds that the dining room is now one of her favorite spots in the house, but not solely because of the unique fixture. “I just love when we have friends or family around and the table is full at mealtimes,” she says.

The other best spot in the house on the lake? The owner admits that it has to be the screen porch and deck on the lower level. "It sits just a little over two feet off the water. You’ve got water on all sides and the breeze blows through... it’s hard to beat that!”

SPLINTER CREEK IS A 650-ACRE COMMUNITY WITH A FOCUS ON NATURE AND SUSTAINABILITY. THE DEVELOPMENT IS NAMED FOR AN EXTINCT TOWN THAT WAS FOUNDED IN THE AREA IN THE EARLY 1800S.