When you're building a home, collaboration is everything. A wonderful example of this maxim sits alongside a lake in the Adirondacks, where a new camp came together as a testament to joint planning and a collective sense of style.

There was a small cottage on the site already, but the owners, who had a long history at the lakeside camp, needed something more spacious and more suited to their family's vacation needs. They also wanted to have lake views and accessibility to the water.

Working with architect K. Daryl Carrington, the owners decided to tear down the original cottage, leaving the shell of a two-story bedroom wing to be integrated with the new structure. Designing the new house to fit on the existing footprint was a challenge. "There were a number of parameters that were brought to the table," says Daryl. "We were limited in height and coverage and setback by zoning." It also was challenging to work with the small size and steep slope of the site - a 25-foot drop from the driveway to the lake - and the proximity to the water.

From the dining area, a staircase leads to the basement-level den (complete with fireplace), laundry room and boat-storage area. Both lower levels boast porches, and at the basement level, the porch extends to a boat ramp.

In terms of the design itself, the owners wanted the house to reflect the historic Adirondack style. "At the same time, my perspective was that we were building a contemporary space, not a replica of something else," says Daryl. "The owners also wanted to avoid ostentation; they didn't want the house to be too large or look like a gingerbread castle."

Livable Levels
Daryl describes the home's design as "a sequence of cascading volumes." The house at driveway-level is one story, with a charming foyer that leads to master and guest suites. A sleeping porch connects the two suites in the back and shelters the lower level from the summer sun.

The stone fireplace in the living room is made from weathered Adirondack granite,
as are the exterior stone veneers.

A stairwell descends to an open dining, kitchen and great room, which promotes the community feeling the owners wanted in their home.

From the dining area, a staircase leads to the basement-level den (complete with fireplace), laundry room and boat-storage area. Both lower levels boast porches, and at the basement level, the porch extends to a boat ramp.

"The entire sequence of spaces provides natural ventilation," says Daryl, "You can vertically ventilate and cross ventilate on all levels, so there's no need for air-conditioning."

The central roof structure was inspired by the image of upside-down Adirondack guide boats. The old guide boats are "tremendously elegant", says Daryl, who likens the entry and sleeping porches to a boat's prow.

Structural Beauty
Once the design was complete, Daryl and the owners chose Jim and Hope Frenette, owners of Schoolhouse Renovations in Tupper Lake, New York, to build the home. "They chose us for our high level of finish work," explains Hope. "We specialize in second homes in the Adirondack style, so we do a lot of log, twig and timber work." When Jim and Hope saw that Daryl's design called for decorative trusses, they quickly suggested timber framing instead.

Jim and Hope felt that "a timber frame would speed the construction," says Daryl, who discovered that he loved the aesthetic of mortise-and-tenon joinery. The building team recommended the Claremont, New Hampshire-based Davis Frame Company to create the frame, because of the company's flexibility and fine craftsmanship.

The builders tore down the original structure and blasted for the foundation. "We had to haul out a lot of rock," Hope says. "Then we built the foundation and the floor, and started renovating the existing bedroom wing with new floors, walls, ceilings and heating system."

The crew, along with Jeff Davis of Davis Frame, erected the frame in the winter. Jeff notes the home is, in fact, a hybrid. "Most of the framing, where we used Douglas fir, is located in the center core," he says. "The wings are a combination of stick framing and timber framing." (To learn more about building a hybrid home, see our interview with Jeff Davis in 'Build It' on page 14.)

Challenges Overcome
Perhaps the biggest challenge the building crew faced was the limited size of the lot. "We had no place to put a dumpster, and we couldn't park near the site or store materials," says Hope. "When we had a full contingent of tradesmen in there, it could be really crowded."

Nonetheless, most of the work was done by the end of the summer. Daryl, who had moved with his wife to North carolina before the first timber went up, visited the site as needed during construction. "We were communicating so well by phone or fax that he didn't really need to come up that often," says Hope.

"By setting the structural grid so rigorously, the timber frame saved us from the kind of headaches that could happen to anybody during building. It also allowed the contractors to focus on the details," says Daryl. A wooden model of the house that Daryl had built for the owners turned out to be a great visual aid for Jim and Hope when they needed to explain the complicated structure to subcontractors. Also, full-scale mockups were made of all details - from the paneling to cross sections of floors - as everyone involved in this incredible project recognized the importance of creating a home that would best suit the owners' needs and tastes.

Comfortably Rustic
Putting all the details together "was a long process, and we all worked together carefully," says decorator Tinatin Kilaberidze. Rather than arriving at the end of the project, as many decorators, the Vermont-based Tinatin, got involved early on.

"I studied Adirondack houses and their history," she says, and a detail that particularly intrigued her was Jim and Hope's characteristic twig work. This twig mosaic - panels of diagonal cedar twigs that are boiled and peeled - is incorporated above the front door, on porches and as interior balustrades.

The stone fireplaces, as well as the exterior stone veneers, are weathered Adirondack granite, and the exterior shingles are red cedar. Beaded maple was chosed for the interior walls because "it's a local material and because of the beauty and lightness of the color," says Tinatin. A striking feature of the house is the "wanny" dining room's maple paneling. "You're literally hand-fitting each piece and, because the wood will shrink somewhat, you have to fit it tightly and follow the line all the way around the room," says Hope of the painstaking work behind this feature.

On the main floor, cherry parquet lines the dining area "to bring a more refinded woodword to the space," says Tinatin, who selected antique European limestone for the kitchen floor to complement the wood. She also designed the cherry kitchen cabinets that are accented with panels of metal that resemble antique tin. The custom-made lighting enhances the woodwork throughout the house. "For this type of home, you have to be careful not to detract from the beauty of the construction," says Tinatin.

With the builders, decorator, architect and lighting designer meeting together to hash out details, "there were a lot of hands in the soup," says Hope, "but it all worked out." Adds Daryl, "The house has such a wonderful level of craftsmanship that you really have to touch to appreciate."