House Tour: Designer Ken Fulk’s Takes Us Into A Midcentury Modern Masterpiece

Step inside this magnificent Lake Tahoe home, masterfully designed by Ken Fulk. From blissful views of the water, to incredible decor, this home is a Midcentury Modern masterpiece.

Neutral colours combined with dramatic accents and raw materials are some of this style’s main characteristics that give this charming home a timeless and beautiful look. Midcentury modern combines simplicity with touches of colours, patterns, and textures. Nature is a muse here – serving as an inspiration to create each individual space in this home.

For this house to tell its tale and be truly transportive, the design team shopped far and wide for vintage pieces that spanned periods and places. From Bavarian antiques to retro midcentury lighting, they curated a collection that would add flavour and character.

Handcrafted to perfection

Meanwhile, they also custom-designed many of the principal furnishings to be handcrafted by some favourite Californian artisans. In the great room, which is flanked by two enormous fireplaces, a pair of oversize sofas are upholstered in fabric reminiscent of a Native American blanket. The team then surrounded them with bookcases constructed of crocodile-embossed bronze. The heroic dining table, which seats up to 18, was inspired by a Jacobean antique; but rather than choosing polished wood, this one was expertly carved by chain saw. Two substantial gothic lanterns then fill the vast space over the table with a soft glow.

An ode to the writers

Every getaway needs lots of bedrooms for friends and family. Here, the designer dedicated them to some of the owners’ favourite writers. With its plaid carpet, vintage wingback chair, antique campaign chest, and stags’ heads keeping watch overhead, the Hemingway room is a nod to rugged masculinity and comfort.

Inspired by a jet-setting Bond, the Ian Fleming suite has walls covered in Fornasetti clouds and streamlined pieces from the 1970s. They dubbed the bunk room The Drunken Poets’ Quarters and crafted privacy curtains from wool camp blankets, custom-embroidered with quotes from Baudelaire, Dorothy Parker, and Bukowski.

No great lodge is complete without a proper tavern, so the designer outfitted a full working bar below the guesthouse. Complete with tufted, red patent leather banquettes and a temperature-controlled wine room, the entire bar is sheathed in charred redwood paneling in the Japanese shou sugi ban style. This gives the room a smoky, almost ancient quality.