New York-based design firm Studio Tack and family-owned design house The Brooklyn Home Company have collaborated on a new hotel, The Lake House on Canandaigua, bringing a unique blend of art, craft and healthful designs to the Finger Lakes in Canandaigua, NY.
The Lake House—a ground-up, multi-building property—is a Sands family, independently owned hotel. Envisioned by The Brooklyn Home Company, led by brother/sister developer Bill Caleo, designer Lyndsay Caleo and her artist husband, Fitzhugh Karol, the hotel will open in summer 2020 at 770 South Main St., at the base of Canandaigua Lake, with 125 rooms.
Formerly a beloved motor lodge owned by Bill and Lyndsay’s family, The Lake House will offer a residentially inspired and design-forward hotel, creating a new destination for travelers seeking an active wellness retreat in Upstate New York.
“The Lake House is a reimagined destination that simply reminds us of what lake culture is: a paradise of loose plans, bobbing sailboats, clear winter days and cold beers,” said Ruben Caldwell, co-founder, Studio Tack. “Here, there’s an experience awaiting every impulse to explore. This is a place where design motivates guests to quickly establish a way of life, no matter how long or short their stay.”
The New Hotel
The Lake House design is meant to make you feel like you are entering a private residence with a campus of buildings: the main hotel, creekside hotel, a new signature restaurant in collaboration with a well-known restaurateur acting as consultant, the integration of a local agriculture nonprofit New York Kitchen, the return of a reimagined Sand Bar (a town staple for decades) and the event barn. Beyond dining, the hotel will offer a spa experience that will distinguish the property into a wellness retreat. The first building to open will be the Sand Bar, for Memorial Day 2020.
“The design exhibits a confidence in its innocence as it manages to capture those ordinary but cherished memories of family vacations and spins them into something extraordinary,” Caldwell said. “Its architecture, a peaceful rendering of traditional modernism, champions an effortlessly casual feeling of ease. The leisurely comforts promoted here are ennobled by traditional methods of good craftsmanship with a subtle sense of modernity. The Lake House embodies the spirit of a family who has lived here for generations. There is an elegant sensibility in the way the property intuitively seems to unfold into the landscape. There are outbuildings of guestrooms and discrete structures that appear to have spun out from the centrifugal spirit of the property’s main house and hearth.”
Destination Events
The Lake House will be a first-of-its-kind events destination for the area. The 109,745-sq.-ft. events campus can serve small happenings for 50 people, weddings for 250 guests, or 500-person conferences. Suitable for all four seasons, the venue allows for indoor-outdoor festivities with a breathtaking view of the lake. The Lake House will be accepting bookings for weddings and other personal and professional events in November of this year.
“The Lake House is a passion project. After traveling around the world, Canandaigua Lake is still the most beautiful place we’ve ever been. The Finger Lakes are known for the incredible wines that are grown in the area, but if you are from out of town, unless you know someone that has a home on the lake, it was a difficult place to find a beautiful place to stay,” said Lyndsay Caleo, creative director, The Brooklyn Home Company.
Sustainability
The Lake House has numerous elements that are part of an effort to reduce its ecological impact. The state-of-the-art hotel will be one of the only hotels in the United States fully operated by geothermal power, which is the highest standard of sustainability for heating and cooling. Canandaigua Lake and the surrounding region is known for its water purity, and guests of the hotel will be provided with sparkling and tap water sourced locally. The use of plastic will be dramatically reduced at the hotel and its adjacent event spaces.
The Lake House redevelopment team includes The Brooklyn Home Company, Studio Tack, SWBR Architects, LeChase Construction, Passero Associates Engineering and HB Cornerstone.
“Returning to our hometown and creating a hotel for guests to come experience the beauty and bounty of the region, as we experienced growing up, is something that we’re so excited to share,” Caleo said. “The lake water is crystal clear and the rolling mountains and waterfalls in the region are equally pristine. We wanted guests to experience the area as if you were visiting a family lake estate. The guestrooms feature hand-carved furniture and collected art, fireplaces and private outdoor decks overlooking the lake.”
