Tuscan Dream

The material list is short and it repeats: stone, metal, wood, and a clay tile roof. That restraint is what lets a house this size hold together. Add a fifth material to an elevation this long and the parts start arguing with each other.

The plan turns around a courtyard ringed with arches, which solves two problems at once. It creates a protected outdoor room that still works in August, and it puts an arcade between the drive and the front door so you arrive under cover.

On the other side, a veranda runs the length of the lake elevation with a dock below it. The main rooms face that direction, which is the right answer on a lakefront lot and not always the one that gets built.