A two-and-a-half hours drive from Toronto, Cherry Valley offers the kind of Canadian rural idyll that celebrates nature and offers a calming daily life between the region's seashore and a burgeoning wine-making industry. Within this lush countryside setting, Toronto based StudioAC, crafted a new retreat for a private client, set in minimalist architecture within a green, meadow-like plateau that descends towards the serene waters of a nearby lake.
Cherry Valley: a rural retreat at one with its setting
Designed as a low, long volume that feels respectful to both its natural surroundings and the region's traditional vernacular, the home spans across a single level, sunken into the ridge. Large openings bring the interiors at one with the site's thriving flora and leafy views.
'This panoramic view immerses the viewer in the landscape rather than placing them on top of it, allowing observation of the strata of nature from soil, fern, tree, and sky,' write the architects, headed by studio founders Jennifer Kudlats and Andrew Hill.
Inside, a carefully planned spatial sequencing and seating concept makes for a flowing, open plan living interior that takes up the majority of the programme. Meanwhile, set on the footprint's edges, private quarters span three bedrooms and a selection of auxiliary spaces.
'Brick and cedar celebrate the duality of the site,' the architects continue, talking about the Cherry Valley house's soft Douglas fit cladding and defining exposed masonry.
'Brick is used on the solid wall that holds back the hillside into which the house is nestled, while a cedar roof wraps down the facade facing the water, engaging in a dialogue with the trees that frame the lake views.'
-
Premium pocketable audio scales up with the new SP4000 from Astell&KernThe Astell&Kern A&ultima SP4000 is a serious piece of audiophile equipment, a high-res portable player that offers endless ways to shape your listening experience
-
The ultimate amenity in this Canadian apartment building? A trio of scene-stealing restaurantsPart of Citizen on Jasper, a new residential tower, Va!, Olia, and Mimi offer a thrilling day-to-night dining experience
-
These sculptural mirrors embody the relaxed spirit of the MedPhotographed in a Mallorcan residence designed by local studio Munarq, these new sculptural mirrors by New York furniture company Ready To Hang are inspired by the sea
-
La Maison de la Baie de l’Ours melds modernism into the shores of a Québécois lakeACDF Architecture’s grand family retreat in Quebec offers a series of flowing living spaces and private bedrooms beneath a monumental wooden roof
-
Peel back maple branches to reveal this cosy midcentury Vancouver gemOsler House, a midcentury Vancouver home, has been refreshed by Scott & Scott Architects, who wanted to pay tribute to the building's 20th-century modernist roots
-
A spectacular waterside house in Canada results from a radical overhaulSplyce Design’s Shoreline House occupies an idyllic site in British Columbia. Refurbished and updated, the structure has been transformed into a waterside retreat
-
Hilborn House, one of Arthur Erickson’s few residential projects, is now on the marketThe home, first sketched on an envelope at Montreal Airport, feels like a museum of modernist shapes, natural materials and indoor-outdoor living
-
This Canadian house is a precise domestic composition perched on the Nova Scotian coastBishop McDowell completed a new Canadian house overlooking the Atlantic, using minimal details and traditional forms to create a refined family home
-
In Canada, The Nest is a three-dimensional puzzle redefining remote livingOn a wooded site on the country’s West Coast, this prefabricated retreat designed by Daria Sheina Studio is a nurturing space for low-impact living
-
Discover Canadian modernist Daniel Evan White’s pitch-perfect homesCanadian architect Daniel Evan White (1933-2012) had a gift for using the landscape to create extraordinary homes; revisit his story in an article from the Wallpaper* archives (first published in 2011)
-
A new Québec house blends open-plan living with far-reaching viewsThe Mountainside Residence is anchored into its sloping site by a concrete plinth, above which sits a main living space with tall ceilings and walls of glass
