This Connecticut lake house by Worrell Yeung cascades towards the water
Lake House by Worrell Yeung is the newest architectural addition on the shores of Candlewood Lake, Connecticut

Naho Kubota - Photography
New York studio Worrell Yeung has designed a Connecticut lake house worthy of home envy. Perched atop the leafy slopes surrounding Candlewood Lake, the home is a 4,900 sq ft family retreat defined by its strong shapes and stacked, linear volumes. The timber and concrete forms appear cascading towards the water, connecting the owners to the landscape and allowing them to take in nature at every corner.
‘The starting point for this weekend house in Connecticut was to provide a direct relationship with the lakeside landscape and a platform to experience space and nature,’ says practice co-principal Max Worrell. ‘Part of the goal of the project was to minimise the house’s presence and perceived size from the street. We ended up layering planes and stacking volumes to break up the mass of the house as it cascades down the hill,' adds his co-principal Jejon Yeung.
The generous home wraps around a large, old oak tree existing on the site, the preservation of which the clients and architects were keen to prioritise. Making views, trees and water the main focus of the design, the architects ensured each space opens up to long vistas through glazed expanses and openings of all kinds. The home's stepped character helps achieve that goal, allowing for a variety of views through and across the house.
‘We took advantage of the concrete structure – cantilevering roof planes in multiple directions is not as readily possible with wood or steel construction,' says Worrell. ‘Using its non-contiguous load bearing points, we were able to shift and cantilever the second-floor volume, opening up half of the first-floor roof for gardens and occupiable outdoor deck space.'
Natural materials and this openness towards nature help define this Connecticut lake house. At the same time, it remains a thoroughly contemporary home, placing comfort, refined aesthetics and convenience at the heart of its design too. ‘Despite the clients wanting a modern house, they still wanted to be contextual,' adds Worrell. And no doubt, this striking lake house ticks both boxes.
INFORMATION
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Prodrive updates its sleek racing simulator with new craft and fresh tech
Race at home in style with the latest version of Prodrive’s racing simulator, now equipped with Bang & Olufsen sound
-
A local architect’s guide to Joshua Tree
Mirtilla Alliata di Montereale shares her favourite things to do to slow down, look closely, and discover Joshua Tree through a more intentional lens
-
Art meets perfume in cross-disciplinary fragrance series Nez 1+1
Talents from film and fragrance come together to create Ansongo, the latest scent resulting from a creative matchmaking project by perfume revue Nez
-
Inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Laurent House – a project built with accessibility at its heart
The dwelling, which you can visit in Illinois, is a classic example of Wright’s Usonian architecture, and was also built for a client with a disability long before accessibility was widely considered
-
Tour this fire-resilient minimalist weekend retreat in California
A minimalist weekend retreat was designed as a counterpoint to a San Francisco pied-à-terre; Edmonds + Lee Architects’ Amnesia House in Napa Valley is a place for making memories
-
A New Zealand house on a rugged beach exemplifies architect Tom Kundig's approach in rich, yet understated luxury
This coastal home, featured in 'Tom Kundig: Complete Houses', a new book launch in the autumn by Monacelli Press, is a perfect example of its author's approach to understated luxury. We spoke to Tom Kundig, the architect behind it
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpiece
Now hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside out
For the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think so
For some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
Hop on this Fire Island Pines tour, marking Pride Month and the start of the summer
A Fire Island Pines tour through the work of architecture studio BOND is hosted by The American Institute of Architects New York in celebration of Pride Month; join the fun
-
A Laurel Canyon house shows off its midcentury architecture bones
We step inside a refreshed modernist Laurel Canyon house, the family home of Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio