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Inception Shades can be customized to accentuate unique architecture. The system can also be integrated with smart home technology for automated control.

A panelized kit allows a home to be built tight into the environment. “When you pair the panelized kit with the helical pier system, you can slide the panels into particularly tight spaces allowing one to keep more trees intact and the landscape minimally touched,” explains Karcher.

The home sits on the banks of Lake Leelanau, in the heart of farm country; nearby, you’ll find cherry and apple orchards and several vineyards. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a mood-boosting indoor/outdoor connection, and Inception Shades integrate seamlessly with window frames so as not to detract from the view.

“My intention was to create a simple and inexpensive way to build a home with a high design concept that could also be built relatively quickly,” says Karcher. “It made sense to create a system for the build concept, employing a panelized structural design with prefabricated pieces and parts for rapid assembly.” Design aspects, like Inception Shades, are customizable yet modular enough to expedite installation.

The house features 360-degree views and is "truly unbelievable at night,

The house was originally a slate-like color similar to the kitchen island, but has changed to rust over time. "Which is what we were really hoping for,

Jesse draws a lot of comparisons between living off-grid and sailing, and there are nods to the latter sprinkled throughout the property—including a hidden bathtub under their bed that is revealed by cranking a sailing winch.