Grunsfeld Shafer Architects

Residence on Lake Michigan

View from ravineView from entry driveEntry court
  • Location Winnetka, IL
  • Design 1965
  • Construction 1965
  • Structural Engineer Fred Weisinger
  • Mechanical Engineer Wallace and Migdal
  • Landscape Architect Gertrude Kuh
  • Design Principal Ernest A Grunsfeld III FAIA

Residence on Lake Michigan is a two-story home built into a bluff high above Lake Michigan in Winnetka, Illinois. From the approach, the house is a modest and unassuming composition of simple, clean lines and solid massing with a low horizontal roof, a chimney, and an elegant front door. The bluff side, however, reveals a tall, two-story glass facade that maximizes views to Lake Michigan.

Living spaces occupy the upper level, with bedrooms and a study located below. Overhanging the bluff are an exterior balcony off of the kitchen, and a screened sleeping porch adjacent to the master bedroom that is used year-round. A stair connecting the two levels is exposed behind a two-story wall of glass facing the lake.