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Houzz Tour: A Glass Lakeside House Among the Trees
Steel framing supports walls of glass in a soaring island home in South Carolina
Recently the Wall Street Journal selected the ‘Lips Room’ house on Kiawah Island by architect and Houzzer Christopher Rose as its House of the Day. With its expansive walls of glass and high-tech-meets-easy-going feel, we’re not surprised.
The home is located on the edge of a lake on Kiawah Island in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. Built four years ago, the house features a large living room overlooking the lake. A desire to maximise those lake views while ensuring the structure could withstand hurricanes and earthquakes drove the home’s design. The extensive use of glass on the back side of the home captures these views while the front is a bit more traditional in design.
In fact, according to Rose, the client insisted on making the house in general and the living room in particular as transparent as possible. The client was all for it when Rose suggested the use of an exposed steel frame to accomplish this goal. This led both architect and client down the path to an exciting and light-filled home that embraces its setting.
Why is it called the ‘Lips Room’ house? Read on.
Houzz at a Glance
Location South Carolina, USA
The home is located on the edge of a lake on Kiawah Island in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. Built four years ago, the house features a large living room overlooking the lake. A desire to maximise those lake views while ensuring the structure could withstand hurricanes and earthquakes drove the home’s design. The extensive use of glass on the back side of the home captures these views while the front is a bit more traditional in design.
In fact, according to Rose, the client insisted on making the house in general and the living room in particular as transparent as possible. The client was all for it when Rose suggested the use of an exposed steel frame to accomplish this goal. This led both architect and client down the path to an exciting and light-filled home that embraces its setting.
Why is it called the ‘Lips Room’ house? Read on.
Houzz at a Glance
Location South Carolina, USA
The living room features walls of glass on all sides. The steel frame structure, finished a dark grey, is exposed and evident in the much of the house.
The windows and doors were manufactured by Henselstone and imported from Germany. Sun control is achieved with built-in motorised shutters.
The windows and doors were manufactured by Henselstone and imported from Germany. Sun control is achieved with built-in motorised shutters.
A dark stained bamboo floor grounds the spaces and provides continuity, while the wooden ceilings provide a sense of warmth overhead.
The glass and stainless steel of the kitchen area is open to the main living areas.
The open-plan staircase complements the steel framed structure of the house. And the walls are clearly treated as thin, screen-like panels.
The bedroom features soaring walls of glass and vaulted ceilings. As in the living room, motorised window shutter control sunlight and privacy.
View more bedrooms with dazzling views
View more bedrooms with dazzling views
The shutters are housed in built-in boxes made to look like cornicing and finished in white to blend into the walls. This achieves the best of both transparency and privacy without compromise.
From the limited-edition wallpaper to the red chair to the shag pile rug, the decor of this guest bedroom, called the ‘Lip Room,’ is inspired by the adjacent Andy Warhol print. A nice bit of whimsical fun.
Get ideas for incorporating red into your design scheme
Get ideas for incorporating red into your design scheme
The first floor of the home is raised considerably above the ground because of the risk of flooding, a very real concern in a coastal location. Though the overall design is quite contemporary, the use of traditional panelling and less glass gives the front side of the home a traditional appeal, an important issue when getting the design approved by the local architectural review committee.
At the bottom of the entry staircase, the architect incorporated a small pond and installed some water effects over smooth river rocks to echo the lake views that are available from the inside.
While the stainless steel frame is exposed on the inside of the home, the darker green panelling on the exterior does the same. Walls are treated as light infill panels within this frame, similar to traditional Japanese architecture.
Do you like this home? Let us know why in the Comments below.
While the stainless steel frame is exposed on the inside of the home, the darker green panelling on the exterior does the same. Walls are treated as light infill panels within this frame, similar to traditional Japanese architecture.
Do you like this home? Let us know why in the Comments below.
Privacy wasn’t a concern, as there are no neighbours on the far side of the lake and to the sides. So using as much glass and achieving as much transparency as possible was the order of the day. A view from across the lake reveals just how open and how much glass there is.