KARLA AND RODNEY SMITH SHARE an impressive knack for design. Although Karla was primarily responsible for choosing the interior design elements in the new lakeside home that serves as a second residence for the couple and their three teenage children, Rodney made equally important contributions—providing input on the home’s landscaping, for example, and sketching ideas for one of the home’s striking fireplaces.

In keeping with Karla’s desire for “a true entertaining home,” the house has an open layout, configured to enable seamless passage within the home as well as from the house to the outdoors for terrace dining or recreation on the lake. Expansive windows flood the airy rooms with natural light and take full advantage of the home’s location on Governor’s Island, a bridged island of about 500 acres on Lake Winnipesaukee.

The house has the classic, timeless aesthetic Karla wanted, with décor that occasionally acknowledges its waterside setting “without it breathing down your neck,” she says.

At nearly 11,000 square feet, the house showcases how design can influence feel and perception. “With the house being the size it is, we played some tricks on the eye,” says architect Lisa DeStefano, AIA, principal of DeStefano Maugel Architects in Portsmouth.

Indeed, deliberate and creative architectural touches and landscaping augment the home while visually diminishing the scale of the building, with cascading terraces outside providing multiple levels of outdoor seating that overlook the lake. “Rod was really instrumental,” DeStefano says, “in working with the land designer [Scott Burns of Scott Burns Landscaping LLC in Meredith], detailing the terrace placement and adding charming surprises, such as a small stone bridge that spans a culvert built for water runoff. Rather than install “just a basic little culvert, they took the opportunity,” DeStefano says, to create something special.

It was also Rod’s idea to put luminescent green lighting under the property’s dock. “It’s cool because at night, that light lights up the whole area by the water and you can see all the fish,” Karla says.

Top: Columns delineate the living room from the dining room where a McLain Wiesan lantern continues the home’s arch theme. Above and left: The living room features warm wooden beams and the impressive fireplace designed by homeowner Rod Smith. The Smiths collaborated with Smart Masonry, LLC to complete their vision.

Closer to the house, Burns supplemented rhododendrons and other flora already on the property with lush hydrangeas and many other new plantings to beautifully accomplish the Smiths’ goal of having surroundings that look natural and “organic, not perfect,” as Karla describes.

Landscaping and architectural curves soften the front façade of the house, with an arched portico gracing the main entry and another curve flowing over a specialty window on the upper floor. Oval windows flank the two oversized, rounded front doors, which “are easily 8-feet tall and 4-feet wide,” DeStefano says.

Inside, many delightful details await: soaring, coffered and beadboard ceilings, and other elements that provide interest in every room.

To the right of the foyer, a staircase ascends; its first landing leading to an oval window with a carved-out niche that provides a cozy place to sit. “Isn’t that fun? It does something in a more three-dimensional way instead of just flat,” DeStefano says.

Black walnut lines the floors in the entry and throughout the home (except for tiled areas), while hanging above in the two-story foyer is an unfussy Gregorius Pineo chandelier in iron with a hammered texture. “I wanted a light feel,” Karla says. “I wanted the iron, and I wanted to be able to see through to the window [above the front doors].”

Straight ahead from the main entry is the living room, with a virtual wall of glass showing off the cool, rippling waters of Lake Winnipesaukee. Hand-hewn wooden beams arch and stretch overhead, helping to fill in some of the ceiling height. “The arch of those beams works with the curve you have on the outside window and brings the warmth of the wood into the building,” DeStefano says.

Karla based the color and texture of the beams on magazine photos she’d seen. “Even the pegs were designed to look authentic.” She’s pleased the beams are not too rustic for the room, she says, which has “a very sophisticated feel.”

An unobtrusive pendant light drops from among the beams and extends partway in front of the massive fireplace, the design of which “was drawn up by Rod at lunch on a cocktail napkin,” Karla says. Karla and Rod collaborated with Smart Masonry in Center Sandwich to create a fireplace that is “natural and organic, but polished,” Karla says. “I wanted people to be able to sit on that hearth, so we wanted that to be a big presence in the room.” A reclaimed beam from a barn in Pennsylvania serves as the mantel.

Karla chose neutral colors as a base for their custom designed furniture from McLaughlin Upholstery, selecting pieces to play off the impressive fireplace. “I wanted to have [the furniture] speak to the fireplace,” she says.

Columns delineate the living room from the adjacent dining room, where windows continue to capture the water view. Above the dining room table, a Gregorius Pineo lantern with antiqued glass repeats the home’s arch theme and provides a clear, clean look while serving as “a wink and a nod to a boat,” Karla says. Armless dining-room chairs by A. Rudin are sturdy but comfortable, and easy to get in and out of—a small but important detail when entertaining.

To inject color amid the neutral tones, Karla and Rod chose a Landry & Acari rug, handmade in Nepal, with a bold design and hues that stay true to the home’s earthy palette. Portions of the rug’s design are raised, adding textural and visual interest.

Overlooking the dining and living rooms is the kitchen, which is all about functionality, flow and views. “I love Karla’s kitchen,” DeStefano says. “I love how the workspace flows, how it’s not completely open to the living space but [provides views of] different spaces in the house.” From the kitchen, Karla can look through the front window to see anyone who is approaching the house; she can look into the sunroom, living room and dining room; and she can see outdoors, including outdoor seating. “So she’s really got a great little hub there,” DeStefano says.

Pottery at the kitchen’s beverage station provides pops of color, and a built-in banquette nestled against the backside of the kitchen’s island features a racetrack table and caned chairs. “I didn’t want kids to come up and have to drag heavy chairs,” Karla says. “These are extremely light … and they’re super comfortable.”

The kitchen configuration enables Karla to work while still chatting with family and guests. “It also allows for a wonderful setup for a buffet,” she says. “You start at one end of the island, go down the aisle, then head on outside” through the dining room sliders.

Just off the kitchen is what Karla calls her “mom office,” with pocket doors for privacy. Toward the back of the kitchen, another set of pocket doors can close off a mudroom, a service entrance to the home and stairs that lead to the mechanical area.

Adjoining the kitchen through double glass doors is the sunroom—Karla’s favorite spot in the house—where an immense fireplace grounds the room and copious windows provide views of the lake. “You always feel like nature is just coming in,” Karla says.

An eyebrow window and stained character-grade oak walls add interest in the room, which Karla says will remain sans window treatments. “It’s been strategically planned architecturally that we have privacy in this room,” she says. “I thought we might feel like we’re in a fishbowl, but we’re not.”

She thinks of the sunroom as a “multipurpose” space.

One corner of the room is designated as a game area; while in another corner, iconic Papa Bear chairs display their midcentury modern style. The design of the room’s fireplace ensures easy circulation from the kitchen to a sunroom door that leads to a patio. Facing the fireplace, Karla paired an elongated, curved, teal sofa with a substantial, caramelcolored leather ottoman to provide plenty of space for kids or guests to sit together. The ottoman’s oak base and feet are finished in “beaver-teeth” style—made to look as though a beaver gnawed on the wood.

The first floor also houses the main bedroom, where a fresh white sofa anchors the bed. Playful touches of pattern appear on a pendant light, the bed frame and the bedding. Nightstands are adorned with milk-white knobby lamps that beg to be caressed. The rug from Landry & Arcari “is soothing [but also] quite cheery,” Karla says.

Linked with the main bedroom through pocket doors is Rod’s office, which features wonderful natural light, views of the outdoors and a clean-lined Keith Fritz desk made of birdseye maple. A sitting area abuts the office, with a television that Karla and Rod watch at night. Hand-blown Gregorius Pineo sconces and Hartmann & Forbes shades help warm the space.

Heading upstairs, a bridge at the top of the staircase overlooks the foyer and living room, and provides a closer look at artwork by J.S. Hurd Design in Gloucester, Massachusetts, that punctuates the foyer’s upper walls. Handmade in Nepal and mounted on custom headrails and frames, the tapestries might appear to be abstract art at first glance, but look more closely and you’ll see that they depict aerial views of Governor’s Island and Lake Winnipesaukee.

Continuing down the length of the catwalk leads to additional bedrooms, including one for the Smiths’ son, William.

Here, “we found we had volume under the roof line,” DeStefano says, “where we could create something unique.”

The result feels snug yet enlivening, with a king-size bed tucked into a bowed nook with a textured ceiling saturated in Farrow & Ball Cook’s Blue. “We wanted to bring out the color and have something vibrant in there,” Karla says.

A built-in desk and shelving are opposite the bed.

Although Karla did not want waterfront references at every turn throughout the house, here she chose décor that fully embraces the home’s location, including the Somerset Bay bed with its coastal vibe; artwork that depicts a fish and sailboats; and the lake-water blue in the bed’s niche. (A turkey dinner sign near the windows is a nod to William’s love of turkey.)

And there’s more: a guest suite above the garage, plus a lower-level walkout space with a copper-covered portico. Inside the portico is what Karla calls a “summer kitchen” along with a bathroom, shower, changing room, storage area for water activities, game room, family room and wet bar.

Planning the home has been a lot of work, but a labor of love—in fact, Karla recently opened her own interior design business, Curated Design Services, LLC (with a website launching soon)—and she is determined to continue to enhance and refine the many design elements already in place in her Governor’s Island home. “I never strayed from my vision,” she says proudly. NHH

RESOURCES

American Custom Design Woodworking • (603) 286-3239
woodworkingnh.com

Boston Design Center • (617) 449-5514 • modernfurnitureinboston.com

Carlisle Wide Plank Flooring • wideplankflooring.com

Cottage Surroundings • (603) 569-0005 • cottagesurroundings.com

Curated Design Services, LLC • Website launching soon

DeStefano Maugel Architects • (603) 431-8701 • maugel.com

Exeter Cabinet Co. • (603) 778-8113

Farrow & Ball • farrow-ball.com/en-us

Forrest Noe Painting • (603) 455-8370 • forrestnoepainting.com

Fred Varney Company • (603) 569-3565 • kitchensofwolfeboronh.com

Gregorius Pineo • gregoriuspineo.com

J.S. Hurd Design • jshurddesign.com

Landry & Arcari • landryandarcari.com

Marvin Windows • marvin.com

McLaughlin Upholstering • (617) 389-0761 • mclaughlinupholstering.com

Rumford Stone • (603) 224-9876 • rumfordstone.com

Scott Burns Landscaping • (603) 279-8100 • scottburnslandscaping.com

Smart Masonry, LLC • (603) 677-2998