A house can be exciting just because it is built to be a vacation house. It can be exciting because it is built on a lake shore, or because it is built on a wooded hill. It can be exciting because of the way it encloses space, or because of an inspired roofline. This vacation house, designed by Architect Francis Joseph McCarthy, derives its marvelous quality from a combination of all these things. When the owners first began to consider the possibility of constructing a weekend and vacation house or cabin on their lot at Clear Lake, California, they carefully thought out the kind of living they wanted from it.
They decided that it should definitely be a cabin. Although most of the neighboring houses are almost suburban in character, they wanted a place that would not be like the one they left at home. They wanted a cabin that would not only reach out to embrace the trees, the sky, and the lake at its feet, but also one that would stimulate a holiday mood.
And that is just what they got. If they were somewhat taken aback at first by the thought of a roof that floated like a canvas canopy and a structure that sloped from front to rear, they soon got into the spirit of the building the architect proposed. They quickly realized that, in addition to designing a sound building, an equally important function of the architect is to compose space, not only to fit a family's present way of living but to be a background for new experience in living.
The plan of this cabin is simple, as befits cabin living. The walls are seven-foot privacy screens on three sides and glass on the fourth, facing the lake. Glass fills in the gap between the seven-foot walls and the roof, so that you see the trees and sky all around and the full, gay effect of the roof's upthrust curve.
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source: Cabins and Vacation Homes, Sunset Books | 1960
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