best of residential

best of residential
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
2,600 sf
3 bedroom, 3 ½ baths
Dufner Heighes
LAKE MICHIGAN GUESTHOUSE
NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Sometimes you want peace and solitude on a vacation;
other times, you want a lively crowd. The latter was true for
the firm’s longtime clients—a couple with four kids—who
desired to convert a 1940s cottage beside their Lake
Michigan summer home into a guesthouse.
Clockwise from
above: Dufner Heighes
replaced the existing
fenestration with
handcrafted steel
windows and doors;
the home is heated by
a ground-source pump
with geothermal wells.
In the living room—
kitted out with an
alpaca rug and seating
by Jens Risom and
Jean-Michel Frank—
the wood-clad ceiling
echoes the hearth’s
graphic stonework.
A vintage carvedironwood bird perches
on a rosewood-top
Saarinen Tulip table
in a guest bedroom.
A Tom Dixon pendant
illuminates the
breakfast nook,
furnished with a trestle
table and custom
banquette. A Brad
Phillips painting hangs
in the foyer, above a
Børge Mogensen sofa
and a botanical rug.
The space had a great aura. Partners Gregory Dufner and
Daniel Heighes Wismer endeavored to keep it by rebuilding
the structure from the inside. They excavated the floors to
increase the ceiling height without disturbing the charming,
undulating, moss-covered roof. (The original plastic-panel
ceiling was switched out for a new design in wood.) The
designers left intact the fireplace’s spectacular stonework
and sourced additional stone from the same local quarry
to replace wall-to-wall carpeting. The existing floor plan
shifted only slightly, to accommodate a larger master suite
and a relocated front door.
Outside, the duo extended the stone terrace even
closer to the waterfront to better utilize the house’s prime
location and maximize outdoor living space. Inside, they
filled the cottage with a variety of antique finds as well as
contemporary pieces inspired by Midcentury classics.
And while the cottage serves as a getaway, the project
was no holiday for Dufner Heighes. The owners acquired
it in the fall and wanted it ready for the following Fourth of
July. Everything was finished in time for the fireworks; the
house filled up with guests, and the festivities commenced.
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7
6
5
3
4
1 ENTRY
2 KITCHEN
1
6
3 DINING AREA
4 LIVING AREA
2
5 MASTER SUITE
6 BEDROOM
7 PATIO
0
10
20
40
PROJECT TEAM GREGORY DUFNER, DANIEL HEIGHES WISMER
PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON WATSON
www.dufnerheighes.com
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Clockwise from
above: In the living
room, a custom stonetop coffee table joins
an antique carvedwood koi side table.
A bench and chair by
Bassam Fellows grace
the master bedroom
sitting area. Dufner
Heighes removed
a breezeway and
garage and restored
the original stone
wall along the street.
A marble lamp glows
atop the bedside
table. Hans Wegner
Elbow chairs
complement the
walnut dining table.
The master bath’s
claw-foot tub and
custom storage wall.
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Dufner
Heighes
GREENE STREET LOFT, NEW YORK
Ten years ago, Gregory Dufner and Daniel Heighes
Wismer’s first project appeared in Interior Design. This
auspicious debut attracted lots of attention—and oil trader
Julian Barrowcliffe and actress Elizabeth Rogers, who were
searching for designers to renovate their new home.
The loft, in SoHo’s Cast Iron Historic District, was a replica
of the 1879 building next door. Working with these good
bones, Dufner Heighes customized the plan, installed an
Arclinea kitchen, and replaced all the finishes and fixtures.
The duo installed oiled South American hardwood on the
floors, one wall of the hallway, and the base of the kitchen
island; rustic reveals grace every other joint. They chose
rift-sawn oak paneling for the office—formerly a laundry
room and coat closets—and dramatic Kashmir slate to
replace the fireplace’s outdated Colonial-style mantelpiece.
FSC-certified timber was used throughout.
Dufner and Wismer selected or designed all furnishings,
including George Nakashima lounges, a George Nelson
cabinet, a Midcentury-inspired credenza, and custom case
goods in oak, walnut, and aluminum. The more serious
pieces are balanced by lighter touches, like a thrift-store
Clockwise from top
left: Vintage sketches
by Vogue illustrator
René R. Bouché
hang in the master
bedroom above a
built-in bed. The
fireplace wall was
modernized with
Kashmir slate and
a cantilevered
limestone hearth.
Paint-by-numbers
art enlivens the
limestone-tile master
bath. Oiled hardwood
flooring wraps the
hallway wall and
kitchen island. Riftsawn oak clads the
office niche. The living
area features a Dufner
Heighes end table
and sofas, a blackwalnut Nakashima
cocktail table, and
a hand-knotted
Tibetan-wool rug.
lamp and Rogers’s childhood ceramic Bambi statuette,
which perches in a lime-green spare bedroom.
Economical, sustainably minded, and a seamless fusion
of past and present? Not bad for a pair of beginners—who
are now, of course, industry leaders.
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2,500 sf
3 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms
PROJECT TEAM GREGORY DUFNER, DANIEL HEIGHES WISMER
PHOTOGRAPHY ERIC LAIGNEL
STYLING PATRICIA PARINEJAD
www.dufnerheighes.com
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Reprinted from Interior Design’s Best of Residental Architecture & Design, Copyright 2013, published by Sandow Media LLC, Boca Raton, Florida