Restored Lakeside Retreat

Nature of Work: 6,000 SF of additions and alterations to existing residence

Location: New London, New Hampshire

This home on the eastern shore of Lake Sunapee was built as a “summer camp” more than 100 years ago. Since then, the building had been through numerous renovations that detracted from its original, steamboat-era charm. For decades, the current owner maintained the “camp” as a seasonal residence until deciding to transform the property into a year-round home, restoring its historical integrity. 

Before work began, the Project Team planned the renovation in stages. However, once the walls and ceilings were removed, multiple structural problems were revealed.

Some of the beams supporting the roof had been weakened during earlier renovations, and rooms were actually tipping. About two months were spent on roof re-framing to restore support.

The design was in keeping with the owner’s love of wooden boats and called for several thousand feet of beaded poplar for nearly every inch of the walls and ceilings, intricate cabinets, a new coffered ceiling in the living room, an island in the kitchen, a large walk-in cedar closet beside the master bedroom, armoires for two guest bedrooms, a built-in desk in the office that spans an entire wall, and a draftsman’s table.

Perhaps the most interesting work for was the conversion of an old attic area over the garage into a children’s bedroom with four built-in bunk beds. The bunks look like berths on a boat, and each of them is below a skylight.

Outside the bunkroom, the nautical motif continues. Curved, decorative beams in the second-floor hallway that leads to the bunkroom look like ribs in a boat’s keel, and the narrow, curving stairway beside the room features a heavy rope railing.

When the project began, the Owner’s vision was to restore the original look of his property while making it into a year-round home. He has succeeded on both fronts with flying colors.