Burger Family Vacation Home

Three Lakes, Wisconsin

This lakeside vacation property, located just east of Eagle River in the north woods of Wisconsin, has been in the owner’s family since the early part of the twentieth century. In 2009, the old cabin that had sheltered four generations of family vacationers, was demolished, and construction began on a new 5,000+ square foot log hybrid home that could accommodate the owners, their children and grandchildren all at once.

Construction was nearly complete by the next summer when Plandesign was commissioned to develop a site plan that would connect the front of the home to the rear over a 10-foot change in elevation and provide various outdoor living spaces. Tight lateral property lines and lakeside setback limits, dense woods, significant elevation changes and an “inconvenient” well head location presented a number of design challenges. The owners identified a great opportunity to reuse boulders of all sizes, up to more than 10 feet in diameter, which were excavated during construction.

The final plan uses a very organic layout to define its outdoor spaces. The front walkway wraps around a landscaped island, where a well head disappears among boulders and plantings. Irregular flagstone is used in both the entry walkway and the rear terrace. Boulders are reused throughout the site as retaining walls, cheek walls along steps, a fire pit and as landscape elements.