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Collection by Luke Hopping

Life is Smooth Sailing on These Contemporary Houseboat and Nautical Homes

Living on the water is a common, though rarely acted upon, fantasy. These five maritime homes navigated red tape and headaches to arrive on the shores of nautical bliss.

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The couple plan to add a kitchen garden to the platform just below the terrace that connects to the kitchen.
The couple plan to add a kitchen garden to the platform just below the terrace that connects to the kitchen.
This colorful floating home eschews maritime themes in favor of a clean and contemporary aesthetic. The interior pulls in views of Lake Union through floor-to-ceiling windows.
This colorful floating home eschews maritime themes in favor of a clean and contemporary aesthetic. The interior pulls in views of Lake Union through floor-to-ceiling windows.
The floor-to-ceiling windows at either end of a Seattle boathouse allow light to stream through the entire 1,000-square-foot space.
The floor-to-ceiling windows at either end of a Seattle boathouse allow light to stream through the entire 1,000-square-foot space.
Cedar slats mark the facade of Floating House, Doug and Becca Worple's lake house in Ontario. The architects, MOS, chose materials and shapes that wouldn’t stand out. “They’re really simple, almost Platonic forms,” principal Michael Meredith says. The modest cabin has boat, a gabled roof and a cladding of untreated cedar, a material that shows up on docks and homes along Georgian Bay. “Allowing the buildings to weather seems the right thing to do,” Sample says. And it’s ready for winter: Sliding barn doors seal the place up as an impenetrable box.
Cedar slats mark the facade of Floating House, Doug and Becca Worple's lake house in Ontario. The architects, MOS, chose materials and shapes that wouldn’t stand out. “They’re really simple, almost Platonic forms,” principal Michael Meredith says. The modest cabin has boat, a gabled roof and a cladding of untreated cedar, a material that shows up on docks and homes along Georgian Bay. “Allowing the buildings to weather seems the right thing to do,” Sample says. And it’s ready for winter: Sliding barn doors seal the place up as an impenetrable box.