Lakeside Residence / Disbrow Iannuzzi

Architects: Disbrow Iannuzzi
Area: 4,000 ft²
Year: 2023
Photography: Rafael Gamo
City: Birmingham, Michigan
Country: United States

Lakeside is a 4,000-square-foot private residence located on a parklike property in Birmingham, Michigan, where the River Rouge runs through a mature and carefully cultivated landscape. Designed by Disbrow Iannuzzi, the Y-shaped house opens outward to its surroundings, establishing a close relationship between interior spaces and the site. The project is defined by an intentionally limited material palette of white ash and black slate, both used extensively to express their inherent qualities. Slate sourced from a single quarry is applied across the building and site in multiple forms, creating a cohesive architectural language responsive to light and weather. Inside, white ash introduces warmth and visual continuity, while calibrated openings and deep-set glazing manage solar exposure and frame views of the landscape. The result is a residence that integrates architecture, material, and environment into a unified living experience.

The Lakeside Residence is completely shaped by the material exploration of Black Slate and White Ash. All slate came from the same quarry. It was split into roof shingles, cleft for wall stone, cut for slabs, crushed for driveways, and all scraps were collected into gabions to create drainage and retaining structures. Throughout the day, the stone is transformed with the sun’s movement. Ash ceiling, wall, and floor surfaces have a consistent linear appearance. Shifts from quarter-sawn to plain-cut boards subtly acknowledge key points of transition.
Interview with Jonathan Disbrow of Disbrow Iannuzzi Architects

Rather than functioning as an isolated architectural object, Lakeside is shaped by the homeowner’s long-term relationship with the site. The landscape, cultivated over more than four decades, serves as both setting and generator for the design. The house is arranged as a Y-shaped plan that extends into the terrain, allowing each wing to engage distinct portions of the property while maintaining a cohesive overall form. This configuration encourages movement through the house as a gradual discovery of views, light conditions, and spatial sequences.

The exterior is defined almost entirely by black slate, a material chosen for both its durability and expressive potential. Sourced from a single quarry, the stone is deployed as roof shingles, wall cladding, horizontal surfaces, and crushed aggregate, ensuring consistency across architectural and landscape elements. As daylight shifts, the slate responds with subtle changes in tone and texture, alternately revealing veining, shadow, and surface irregularities that lend depth and visual complexity to the building envelope.

In contrast to the dark exterior, the interior is unified by white ash, selected for its warmth and linear clarity. Used continuously across floors, walls, and ceilings, the wood establishes a calm and cohesive atmosphere. Subtle shifts from quarter-sawn to plain-cut boards signal moments of transition without disrupting the overall material continuity. These restrained variations allow the interior architecture to remain quiet while still offering moments of visual interest and tactile richness.

Specific elements within the home are designed to support the display of the client’s collection of handcrafted objects. A long bench carved from a single fifteen-foot plank of white ash introduces a more expressive grain pattern, distinguishing it from the surrounding surfaces. This gesture acknowledges the diversity inherent within a single material species while providing a focused setting for bronze castings and other curated works.

Openings in the slate exterior are treated as deliberate incisions, revealing the warmth of the wood within while regulating sunlight throughout the year. Deeply set windows shield interiors during warmer months and admit low winter sun, particularly at the south-facing entrance. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls frame views of the site’s dramatic topography, allowing the layered landscape to become an extension of the interior. In this way, Lakeside dissolves the boundary between house and garden, integrating daily life with the rhythms of light, material, and nature.