The architecture of view

A YOUNG DESIGNER OFFERS A LESSON IN MAKING THE VIEW CENTER STAGE IN A HOME OVERLOOKING GLEN LAKE.

- ELIZABETH EDWARDS

From the road, the eight wooded acres on a ridge above Glen Lake that have been in Joseph (JP) Machuta’s family since the 1960s look innocuous enough, marked only by a tree-shrouded driveway. But following the curve of the drive lands you at the top of a bluff with a jaw-dropping panorama of the Glen Lakes below. For years, the family kept a modest getaway on the land, slowly clearing the trees to open up the view. In his young adult years, JP worked summer jobs in the area and lived on the property, waking up every morning to one of the area’s most stellar views.

By the time JP’s family put the property up for sale, he and his husband, Adam Tooseley, were working in Chicago. The couple decided to purchase the property and build a summer home that they planned to eventually retire to. Although they say they aren’t creative (JP is in finance and Adam is an attorney), they sketched out an inspired concept for their new home over coffee in a Glen Arbor café based on a clean Scandinavian style—then began looking for a designer to refine it. It was a short search. At the time, they were renting a room at a local hotel across the street from the Glen Arbor Artisans gallery. They loved the gallery, especially its peaked metal roof. When they asked the owner, Kristin Hurlin, who designed it, she was delighted to share that it was her son, Keenan May. JP and Adam contacted him in San Francisco, where he was living at the time, and May agreed to design their new home both remotely and while visiting family in Glen Arbor.