Burnt Cedar

Burnt Cedar is a carefully considered full-time beach house designed by Faulkner Architects for a car-enthusiast family of four, strategically situated on the shore of Lake Tahoe in Incline Village, Nevada. True to Faulkner’s design ethos — where craft, context, and the interplay between landscape and architecture guide every decision — the residence sits gently within a neighborhood originally developed in the 1950s yet maintains a vivid connection to the natural beauty of the lake and surrounding pines. The house’s architectural expression is deceptively simple: a rectilinear pavilion that is partially embedded into the slope of the site, orienting its primary elevation toward the shimmering expanse of Lake Tahoe. Full-height glazing at the front façade offers uninterrupted panoramic views, effectively dissolving the boundary between interior and exterior. This design gesture aligns with the clients’ desire for a home that feels deeply connected to its landscape — an interior that feels as though one is perpetually immersed in the movement of light, shadow, and seasonal rhythms characteristic of the Jeffrey and Ponderosa pine-filled shoreline. Material choices throughout Burnt Cedar articulate a balance of robust modernity and warm tactile presence. Concrete, steel, wood, and glass form the core palette, grounding the structure in clarity and strength while embracing refined craftsmanship. Inside, the experience is enriched through perforated wood ceilings and acoustical plaster walls, which modulate sound and introduce a nuanced material softness to spaces defined by expansive glass and concrete. These material decisions not only enhance acoustic comfort but also reinforce the house’s tranquil atmosphere — an environment that is both introspective and outwardly engaged with nature. Functional considerations are equally integral to the design. An underground garage, excavated beneath the main structure, provides level street access — a thoughtful gesture in the snowy Tahoe climate and an essential requirement for a family with an eclectic car collection. This pragmatic solution is elegantly woven into the architecture, ensuring that utility and formal clarity coexist without compromise. Ultimately, Burnt Cedar exemplifies Faulkner Architects’ commitment to creating spaces that are honest in their materiality, responsive to site conditions, and attuned to the rhythms of everyday life. The residence is a testament to how refined architectural thinking can elevate simple volumetric form into a place of enduring comfort and poetic connection to landscape.