WINN WITTMAN, AIA, NCARB, FOUNDING PRINCIPAL AND DESIGN director of Winn Wittman Architecture (WWA), met his Lake Charles, Louisiana clients about five years ago. They are a blended family with children ranging in age, at the time, from 3 to 18 years old. They found Winn, who designs projects “where architecture meets art” all around the United States, online, just like numerous other clients.
“The client is a doctor who owns some minor emergency clinics. He started out the project with the architect who designed his clinics, but the resulting home looked too ‘clinical,’ so he came to us with this beautiful lakefront property,” Winn laughed. They call it the Pelican House, which was completed in 2021. Perched on a hill, the site offers open views to the lake as well as a sprawling neighborhood and golf course.
The challenge was to accentuate the views to the lake while also screening out the adjacent properties, making the home feel more like a natural retreat than one located in a traditional neighborhood. The house was meant to serve as a home base for the clients, both avid pilots who own a plane and travel frequently.
“They are very casual, so they wanted a luxurious yet comfortable home. This was an opportunity for us to stretch out a bit and get back to some of my roots as a woodworker and explore the connections and joinery, and the patterns traditionally associated with cabinet-making and Japanese architecture,” noted Winn who credits his collaboration with Thomas Guy Interiors and Russell Stutes Construction for the project’s success.
Other influences included the post and beam construction common in the also wet climate of the Pacific Northwest and some of the Victorian architecture where Winn grew up in Boston. That, combined with the huge window walls of glass, which are indicative of a Winn Wittman design, served as the foundation of the Pelican House.
Set back on a quasi-inlet of Prien Lake in Lake Charles, the house offers a sweeping view of the water and surrounding wetlands. Due to the prevalence of storms and exposure to an often-damp environment, Winn knew he needed to design a home that would be resilient to the elements while still showcasing the breathtaking landscape.
A palette of materials, including Western red cedar and limestone, along with a metal roof, were used to implement this vision. “Indeed, resiliency was achieved by selecting materials that would gracefully weather an enormous amount of wind and rain. Many layers of waterproofing and structural reinforcement aren’t visible to the naked eye, yet preserve the home in the most demanding of climatic conditions,” said Winn. “One thing that impressed me about this project was the strong local traditions of craftsmanship. There’s a long tradition of brick masonry in Lake Charles, for example, so I was pleasantly surprised that the builder was able to pull off some of the finer details like the stone work, even though that type of stone work is not native to the area.”
To date, the Pelican House has survived four major hurricanes, withstanding the wind and water with little more than attractive weathering on its cedar siding. Even the giant roof and deep overhangs mitigate storm runoff by deliberate attention to divert water through the use of French drains, gutter downspouts and standing seam metal with high ridges to slow pooling on the low-sloped roof.
Another key directive of the project was to create a seamless indoor-outdoor experience. This was achieved with colossal thirty-foot floor-to-ceiling glass in the living room that overlooks the back terrace, where the 80-foot negative edge pool is the centerpiece of the outdoor space and the threshold to the naturalized landscaping, designed by Baton Rouge-based Carbo Associates. Layers of screening both built and natural, along with the use of subtle level changes surrounding the house, create a sense of solidity in contrast to the views and expanses of water from the house.
“I think we were able to make a large home in a prominent area that integrates nicely with the land and the lake and surrounding properties, better than I would have imagined. Yet, it’s also sort of the marquee of the neighborhood as you approach from the water,” shared Winn.
Clearly, the primary goals were achieved with this objectively magnificent house. A luxurious lake cabin it may be, but truly, the word cabin falls short of encapsulating the palatial beauty of Pelican House and the remarkable intricacy and thoughtfulness of Winn’s design. It might be more accurately called an architectural masterpiece.
WINN WITTMANN ARCHITECTURE
512-270-6903 | WinnWittman.com