Cheerful Experience

Therese and Gary Martin's colorful, light-filled vacation home is a delight for the senses.

This boathouse cottage provides a
beachside escape.

From its unusual shape to the kaleidoscope of color that changes from room to room, this 1,700-square-foot beach house is a cheerful experience for the Martins, their daughters, Cory and Cassie, and the friends and family members who go there to escape the daily grind.

The couple built their weekend retreat in Beachwalk, a lakefront community in Michigan City, Indiana, which is about a 20-minute drive from their home in northwestern Indiana. Therese and Gary fell in love with Beachwalk's quaint, casual ambience, and purchased a 50x125-foot homesite.

The Martins worked with Clark Streicher, a Michigan City builder who had built their primary residence, and Robert Orr, an architect from New Haven, Connecticut, who had designed other homes in Beachwalk. Orr calls the Martins' lap-sided house a boathouse cottage.