Articles & News

The Lake Look

A brief history of lake architecture


Published: 05.04.2023

Designing and building a lake home is very different from building a home in an urban or suburban environment. The rural waterfront setting of Lake Martin demands a different approach than one might take with a “city home.” A tour around the lake will quickly confirm that homes built in Russell Lands’ neighborhoods set the highest standard of homes on the lake.

This higher standard has not happened accidentally; it happened by design. Roughly 50 years ago, Russell Lands began its development of Willow Point on the shoreline around the golf course of the same name. The gently sloping land was divided into very large lots with fabulous views of the western portion of Lake Martin and would allow for house designs that could enjoy these broad lake views.

The first owners in Willow Point, aided by the guidance of Willow Point’s Protective Covenants and Architectural Review Committee (ARC), built lake homes that started a new design trend for the lake. Rather than the small “home-made” weekend cabins found around the lake, the houses built in Willow Point could and would be used as lakefront homes. Some would describe them as “lake estate homes.”

Subsequent owners, as well as Russell Lands’ ARC, were pleased by the unique ideas and use of rustic materials that were “introduced” in those early homes. Over time, we were able to “discover” designers who would be able to bring property owners’ dreams of beautiful lake homes to reality in Willow Point.

We must have been onto something, because those architectural genetics quickly spread to other Russell neighborhoods. Ideas introduced in Willow Point were employed and expanded in Windermere, Windermere West, and Trillium. Those beautiful designs and construction standards began to enhance values, which gave people confidence to employ world-class architects.

 

McAlpine Camp home in The Ridge

Architects like Bobby McAlpine, Bill Ingram, and Taylor Dawson began designing beautiful lake homes in Trillium and Willow Point. In fact, not only were these beautiful lake homes, but they would also have been considered beautiful in any residential setting. A style of residential home was developed that is unique to Lake Martin and Russell Lands’ neighborhoods.

Over the years, other designers and architects who were either mentored, trained, educated, or influenced by those mentioned above began to come onto the scene. Many designers would reach out to us to offer their services. After reviewing their portfolios, we selected the most qualified and began relationships which continue to this day.

We have developed a pool of talented designers who are able to help us evolve and enhance the “Lake Martin look” in residential architecture. Our ARC and sales team share that list of Approved Architects and Home Designers with each of our property owners. The list is extensive and talented.

Beautiful homes require qualified contractors

As the home designs became more beautiful, we learned that there was a limited pool of contractors who could turn the designs into reality. Over 25-30 years, we have found a talented pool of capable contractors to build in our communities. Bonus traits are that our builders find new and creative ways to use rustic materials and to make the most of every building site.

Building a custom home is more than being able to read a measuring tape. It also requires people skills. Listening carefully to the property owner and translating those desires and dreams to suppliers and subcontractors are just two of the most important skills that we think a builder needs to possess. High-quality outcomes require high-quality construction teams.

 

The Willows Inspiration Home by Scott and Jonathan Torode

We believe that we have the best team of lake homebuilders in the South, and we have “pre-approved” them to build in our neighborhoods—hence the term Approved Builders. In fact, we feel so strongly about their ability to create beautiful lake homes, we require that every new home built in a Russell Lands neighborhood be constructed by a builder who has shown, through their body of work, that they can deliver beautiful lake homes.

Continued evolution of design

Russell Lands started with nearly 30,000 acres and over 300 miles of shoreline on Lake Martin. Over time, we have created a look that is distinctly different from the rest of the lake as well as other lakes in the country. We still have over 250 miles of shoreline and over 20,000 acres of land. We will continue to evolve and perfect the look of lake homes.

The latest neighborhood where our design trends are being embraced and enhanced is The Heritage. This neighborhood was aptly named by Mr. and Mrs. Ben Russell with a desire to create a place that would honor the significant decision of Ben’s grandfather, Benjamin Russell. A century ago, he had the vision that this place might become something special.

If you want to create a lake home that could become part of your family’s heritage, we hope that you’ll take a look at what we have done over the years with our designers and contractors. We invite you to visit with us and with them to discover how wonderful it is to own a home that was designed just for lakefront living.

What to look for

There are already many new lake homes being built in The Heritage. Last summer, we released the first 52 homesites. Like the early phases of Willow Point, homesites in The Heritage are very large to allow for estate lake homes that can enjoy big water views.

We have sold 48 of those homesites in Phase 1, and we will be releasing roughly 30 lots this summer in Phase 2. These lots will average 1.4 acres of land and 275 feet of waterfront. The Heritage is a gated community which is also home to the Coore & Crenshaw-designed Wicker Point Golf Club and The Benjamin Lake Club. For information on The Heritage, reach out to one of our Sales Executives via email or give them a call at 256.215.7011 today.

 


Header photo: The Ridge custom home by Jeff Dungan.

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