Newly built on the banks of a river in the northern suburbs of Montreal, this family home lies low and discreet among its leafy environs. The project is the brainchild of local architects Chevalier Morales. It offers a clever reinterpretation of midcentury architecture, and in particular the iconic American modernist home; adjusted, here, for the Canadian landscape and the 21st century.
Working with classic, familiar materials, the architects envisaged a contemporary house made of clean, orthogonal volumes. Large openings and outdoor spaces connect with nature. Cleverly, everything fits within a 100 ft square footprint.
The material palette includes clay brick for the walls, metal panel cladding, wood for the soffit and natural stone for flooring. This creates a restrained, sophisticated external composition of browns, blacks and greys that doesn't appear jarring within its green context.
However, inside the space becomes brighter, open and filled in natural light. White walls, sculptural, flowing interiors that blend architectural space and built-in fittings, and brass accents emphasize a warm and welcoming, contemporary domestic space.
The architects wanted to ensure an organic integration of indoors and outdoors, as midcentury architecture often did, but maintain privacy. ‘The question of privacy versus openings, crucial in the 1950s, enables a response that creates two rectangular courtyards,' they say. ‘They are inserted into the volume, bringing natural light into the heart of the residence, while also integrating the back yard and the swimming pool.'
The residence's placement within its plot allowed the team to save as many existing trees as possible. Meanwhile, new, large coniferous trees were planted in the courtyards. Natural vegetation, landscaped parts that use local flora, and the swimming pool's water element towards the river, form a natural landscape that gently embraces this sensitively designed home.
INFORMATION
-
‘I want to bring anxiety to the surface': Shannon Cartier Lucy on her unsettling worksIn an exhibition at Soft Opening, London, Shannon Cartier Lucy revisits childhood memories
-
What one writer learnt in 2025 through exploring the ‘intimate, familiar’ wardrobes of ten friendsInspired by artist Sophie Calle, Colleen Kelsey’s ‘Wearing It Out’ sees the writer ask ten friends to tell the stories behind their most precious garments – from a wedding dress ordered on a whim to a pair of Prada Mary Janes
-
Year in review: 2025’s top ten cars chosen by transport editor Jonathan BellWhat were our chosen conveyances in 2025? These ten cars impressed, either through their look and feel, style, sophistication or all-round practicality
-
This retreat deep in the woods of Canada takes visitors on a playful journey91.0 Bridge House, a new retreat by Omer Arbel, is designed like a path through the forest, suspended between ferns and tree canopy in the Gulf Island archipelago
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthFrom Malibu beach pads to cosy cabins blanketed in snow, Wallpaper* has featured some incredible homes this month. We profile our favourites below
-
Explore the riches of Morse House, the Canadian modernist gem on the marketMorse House, designed by Thompson, Berwick & Pratt Architects in 1982 on Vancouver's Bowen Island, is on the market – might you be the new custodian of its modernist legacy?
-
Cosy up in a snowy Canadian cabin inspired by utilitarian farmhousesTimbertop is a minimalist shelter overlooking the woodland home of wild deer, porcupines and turkeys
-
Buy yourself a Sanctuary, a serene house above the British Columbia landscapeThe Sanctuary was designed by BattersbyHowat for clients who wanted a contemporary home that was also a retreat into nature. Now it’s on the market via West Coast Modern
-
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
