Modern Caledon cottage has a view to wake up to

The master bedroom and its view of the lake. The architects described their task as ‘sweating the details to maximize lake views.’ That took the form of full-height, floor-to-ceiling glazing, glass handrails and a cantilevered banquette in the kitchen to minimize view-obstructing legs.Ben Rahn

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The master bedroom ensuite.Ben Rahn

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Jutting roof lines crown façades clad in plate glass cut through by heavy stone walls. At dusk, lights glow from within, the home twinkling like a gaudy jewel set within the deep green of the coniferous forest that surrounds it.Ben Rahn

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Fixed to the steep hillside site via a technique called soil nailing, often used in B.C., the building’s structure is a mix of contrasting materials and textures. Cold concrete is tempered by the warmth of the Douglas fir columns and beams, some up to six metres in length.Ben Rahn

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The boathouse is clad in half round timbers: a playful addition that intentionally contradicts the serious Modernist aesthetic of the main home. Its clever design becomes more evident on examination; from the rooftop diving platform to cedar flooring that runs continuously inside and out onto the deck, and, large folding doors that completely open the front façade to give a beautiful view of the lakeBen Rahn

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A view from the boathouse. The 8,000-square-foot rural retreat on the Niagara Escarpment has its own private 24-acre lake that holds a protected breeding population of brown trout.Ben Rahn

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A 19th century copper frieze at front door.Ben Rahn

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View through dining room to lake. Slick floor to ceiling glazing plays foil to the rough-hewn limestone blocks of the fin walls, which split the house into sections – kitchen/dining, living, sleeping. The colours and textures soften the building’s form, hinting at nature and connecting with the landscape.Ben Rahn

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View through living room to lake.Ben Rahn

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The kitchen table and cantilevered banquette.Ben Rahn

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Spaces like the Bulthaup-clad kitchen, the gallery-like living room and even the bedrooms, each with a wall of windows, seem expansive enough to comfortably throw a football, and yet, wonderful artworks and tasteful interior styling, by Toronto firm Made, bring the spaces back down to a human scale.Ben Rahn

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