The partners lived in Chicago in the early 1980s, but Doug’s renovation business was taking off in communities to the east, such as Lakeside, Michigan. When he and Jim stumbled across a bland, boxy brick home on a wooded lot overlooking a pristine beach, they stopped in their tracks. “The house had such fantastic potential that it bowled us over,” Jim says. They took the plunge and purchased it in 1988. Excited as they were, their new home sat on the back burner while Doug took care of his clients. Gradually, though, they managed to make big changes. “The house didn’t have well-designed midcentury architecture, so we wanted to imprint it with a fitting style for the setting and improve the layout,” Doug says. “We don’t like unused rooms.”

Renovations here had one purpose: to take in water views. Doug and Jim converted the garage into a master suite with French doors opening toward the lake, turning the old master bedroom into two guest rooms. They installed a wall of windows along the waterfront, and created an efficient kitchen that opens onto a cozy den with a wall of custom-built bookshelves.

Passionate designers, Doug and Jim had no problem pulling the interiors together. “We started out with a white sofa, two white chairs, and a beautiful antique partner’s desk,” Jim says. “When we ran into things we liked, we’d buy them and just switch things around to make them work.”

The inside of the house is complete, but the terraced grounds still present a challenge. Landscape architect Leslie Carter Rohrer has brought order to the acre-plus property with plans for an English-style garden, but the owners are “still trying to perfect it,” Doug admits.

A few years into their 15-year home renovation, Jim and Doug opened a design studio, which they named Lovell & Whyte after their maternal grandfathers. Now, the business is thriving. Of course, they complete clients’ projects more quickly than their own.

ALSO: See interiors of this renovation.