Lake Michigan Firepit
This firepit was being designed and constructed in anticipation of a new residence being built on a level, three+ acre site on Lake Michigan just north of Port Washington, Wisconsin. This beautiful site is just three steps above lake level which is unique in this area where most home sites have 200' bluffs and no lake access. Although the new residence had not been designed yet, we understood due to the new homes expected size, we had to develop a larger than normal and unique firepit.
This is the original conceptual sketch we developed while standing on site with the client (prior to us using sketchbook Pro on our ipad). The existing firepit was very poorly built and conceived design.
We wanted to have a firepit which was large enough to allow 12 or more people to comfortably sit around the firepit and enjoy an evening under the stars along Lake Michigan. The firepit is a seven foot diameter, 1,200 lb., cast iron sugar kettle from North Carolina. We allowed another 11' of distance between the edge of the sugar kettle and the surrounding plantings to allow for large adirondack chairs and ample room to walk between the firepit and the chairs comfortably.
In addition, we built a firewood stacking area with followed the curve of the firepit and was retained with 4x4 cedar posts with copper caps.
And to blend this into the rip/rap and new gardens the firepit area is embraced with Bayberry, ornamental grasses, roses and colorful perennials. All of the planting beds in this project are irrigated with drip irrigation to insure efficient delivery of water to a site which has sandy soil and high winds at times.
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