W I N T E R 2 0 2 2 | D E S I G N S TA R S
Timeless Style Architect’s open kitchen and bath in his Leelanau Peninsula lake home wows By Jeanine Matlow | Photography by James Haefner and Glen Rauth
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ou DesRosiers, below, president of DesRosiers Architects in Bloomfield Hills, designed his personal retreat with his wife, JoJo, to make the most of the sweeping water vistas. The couple, who have been married for 54 years, worked on the interiors of the award-winning Leelanau Peninsula home to create custom spaces like the kitchen and bath overlooking Lake Michigan, the Manitou Islands, and Good Harbor Bay. “The whole house was designed around the views,” DesRosiers says. “We wanted every room to showcase them.” Butt-glass windows deliver unob-
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structed views, including the architect’s favorite scene: two lighthouses that determined where the house would be sited between the islands. The kitchen has great views from the sink and the island, and it’s completely open to the great room, where the couple and any guests can watch TV or sit at the dining table. “We can do puzzles, read, work, or watch a football game, and we’re all able to communicate with each other,” DesRosiers says. “It all comes from this idea: Whenever we went to a party, everybody ended up in the kitchen. I decided to put the kitchen in the party.” Besides, he adds, “JoJo cooks a lot, so
the kitchen is the core of the home. Everybody goes there morning, noon, and night.” The space has the same radiant heat on the granite countertop as the wood floors. “It’s not a huge kitchen, it’s just very functional,” DesRosiers says. And he says it has the one feature JoJo always wanted: a Scotsman icemaker for crystal-clear cubes. A walk-through pantry keeps equipment tucked away. “We didn’t want it to look like a kitchen in a corner. It almost looks like a library,” he says. Ribbon-cut mahogany trim adds warmth. “When you’re on the lake for all four seasons, you want your home to be warm and cozy,” DesRosiers says. The same goes for the master suite, where Crema Marfil marble with chocolate trav-
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