A peaceful lakeside retreat on a hill overlooking Second Lake and Waters Edge Golf Course in the west Michigan town of Fremont, offers beautiful views of the tranquil scene below. The home is perched on the side of the hill and transitions towards the water, now with multilevel travertine terraces. Landscape architect Dan Miller of Rivertown Landscapes LLC used the spatial proportions and details of the home to extend the space to the outside.

Outdoor areas meander gracefully around the home and take advantage of the site's natural slopes. The results are patio and garden areas that flow freely, offering a generous variety of spaces for entertaining. An outdoor kitchen and dining room feeds down to a lower fire pit patio for enjoying summer evenings and sunsets. Lush gardens were created with the use of mass plantings of native shrubs and perennials.

A walkway flows around the home to a gate welcoming friends and family. When it is open, neighbors and guests know it's a great time to stop by. An outdoor sound system helps to complete the atmosphere and is enjoyed while using the space. Low voltage LED lighting extends use of the areas into the night. Both the sound system and lighting are controlled by the home's system.

Also included in the design were: stone steps and pathways, stone retaining walls, additional outdoor seating areas and a cut stone walkway.

Specification Details
Silver Creek travertine pavers were set on soil with random spacing in the rear turf area. In the fire pit patio, and most of the other patios and paths, which lead around the house, dry-laid travertine pavers were specified to be installed on a compacted sand and gravel base in a running bond pattern. Featuring a custom fire pit with limestone coping, the patio is encircled on one side with an outcropping retaining wall. The other side has a one course wall with a planting bed between it and the pavers.

 
Dimensional slab steps were specified to be set on a compacted gravel base, while steps had a concrete base. And some used bullnose step treads with stone risers. Also, the design team decided to keep some existing steps and retaining walls.

On one side of the house, the design called for a pea gravel pathway installed over a base of compacted gravel and fabric. The edge of gravel was intended to bleed into the planting beds. On top of the path, more travertine pavers were placed with random spacing.

Stone that matches the house was used to enclose the grill, which was topped with a custom concrete countertop. The natural cedar pergola has pillars with stone that also corresponds to the home's exterior.

A number of perimeter trees were saved, along with a couple of large shade trees scattered throughout the property. New trees included River Birch, Mugo Pine, Autumn Blaze Maple, Prairiefire Crabapple, Dwarf White Pine, Kousa Dogwood and Apple Serviceberry.

At the front of the house, entry piers were designed with stone to match the house and capped with limestone. The existing front stoop and concrete driveway were retained.

Challenges
The grade around part of the front of the home was too high on the siding, which necessitated the addition of retaining walls to allow for the proper grade and drainage away from the home.

And, the grade on the knoll in the back of the home blocked a good portion of the view of the lake and golf course from the rooms in the home. By lowering the sunning patio, this issue was resolved and opened up the views. The driveway grade by the guest gate presented an issue in that it was lower than the back patio areas but couldn't be changed in large part because the drainage field and holding tanks were in this area. So, Miller designed a small set of steps to get the pathway up to make the transition to the back patio areas.

Wiring and plumbing for water, gas and drainage all had to be retrofitted to connect the new areas to the home. There was also an existing walkway to and from the lake that was left as is since that grade was predetermined and had to be met. And an older hydraulic irrigation system had to be remodeled and rebuilt to include the newly landscaped areas and tie into a separate irrigation well.

But able to overcome all that, the project won a Grand Award from the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association in 2018.

Team List:
Architect: VIA Design - Victor Scalzo
Carpentry: Artisan Building & Design - Joshua Hunt
Paving: Creative Brickscapes - Mike Van Loo
Masonry: Shane Crowley Masonry - Shane Crowley
Audio: Premier Audio & Images - Jason Jespersen
Irrigation: Winchel Irrigation - Greg Winchel
Plumbing: Rob Scholtons Plumbing & Heating - Rob Scholtons

As seen in LASN magazine, February 2020.