Five Architectural Design Ideas for Vacation Home Lifestyles

Elissa Morgante, AIA

Elissa Morgante, AIA
Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson

Jan 14, 2014 - 5 min read

Five Architectural Design Ideas for Vacation Home Lifestyles

Many of us dream of owning a vacation home – maybe in a warm and sunny clime, a ski resort, or, like many of our Chicagoland clients, along the shores of Lake Michigan. At Morgante Wilson Architects, we’ve designed a wide array of vacation homes across the country. Whether they’re lodge-like or water-oriented, they all share certain commonalities. Here are five ideas to consider when working with a residential architect to design your vacation home:

1. Informal space rules.

While this is becoming a trend in residential home design across the board, it’s especially true of vacation homes, which yearn to be relaxed. Our architects understand this simple truth: clients want to make sure they’re enjoying the entire house and every room, all the time.

2. Kitchens are about everyone helping themselves.

A designated coffee bar, or drinks station, enables everyone to grab what they want without traversing the kitchen’s primary work space. Likewise, open shelves encourage guests to pitch in and set the table, or empty the dishwasher, without having to ask where you store cereal bowls.

3. Bunk rooms make it easy to host a crowd.

When it comes to bedrooms, twin strategies practically guarantee you can invite other families to join you at your vacation home with ease. First, install a queen size bed in each child’s bedroom. Second, build a bunk room, and load it with 1-4 sets of bunk beds. That way, when guests visit, your kids’ bedrooms can accommodate adults; and all the kids, including your own, can sleep together in the bunk room.

4. Indoors and outdoors are integrated from the beginning.

Unlike a typical suburban home, a vacation home is often unfettered in terms of lot size and proximity to neighbors. Plus, a vacation house may include wonderful views – which is why everyone at Morgante Wilson works so diligently to maximize indoor-outdoor connections. Properly siting a house to take full advantage of views, and to ensure primary living areas enjoy easy physical access to the outdoors, is paramount. For this reason, many of our clients engage the services of a landscape architect from the outset, rather than as an afterthought.

5. Closets are not a priority.

You need them, of course, but they don’t need to be as big as the ones you have at home. Most people travel to a vacation home to get away from the constraints and obligations of daily life. Generally speaking, they’re not as heavily outfitted. Therefore, their wardrobes tend to be smaller, and oriented more toward casual comfort. You will most likely not need a closet with hanging space for dresses to wear to black tie events.

If you’re thinking about building a vacation home, call us! We’d love to hear your ideas – and share a few of our own to ensure your get-away house lives the way you really want it to.


Elissa Morgante, AIA

Elissa Morgante, AIA

Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson