A lakeside cottage set on the shores of the scattered chain of Ontario lakes known as the Kawarthas, this home designed by Dubbeldam Architecture + Design provides a waterside retreat for an extended family.
Three distinct volumes with steep roof lines are integrated, connecting the main and guest bedroom wings and the central living area, while clearly delineating the different spaces of the cottage
Explore this lakeside cottage in Ontario
Covering a modest 205 sq m, Catchacoma Cottage combines the demands of a large family group through a flexible series of spaces scattered across a single-storey structure. The main focus is on the central gathering space, a high-ceiling principal room that includes the kitchen and dining areas with a loft space above, reached by a fixed ladder.
According to the architects, 'The cold-rolled steel around the fireplace draws the eye and creates a dramatic juxtaposition to the maple plywood-lined walls, adding visual interest and texture to the space'
This primary space runs through the heart of the building and is the spot you arrive at from the entrance porch. Beyond the living and dining space is a full width deck, which includes an external sitting room, with cascading wooden steps down to ground level, just yards from the rocky shore of the lake to the south. The gathering space is flanked by six bedrooms, accessed from long corridors that run the length of the cottage and separated by bathrooms, utility areas and ancillary spaces.
A loft space is built above the kitchen, offering 'a cool hangout for the teenagers... overlooking the double-height space'
In keeping with the modest scale and retreat-focused nature of the project, the bedrooms are compact and low-key. The west ‘wing’ houses a double and a bunk room and is book-ended by a sun room and a study/guest bedroom while the east wing accommodation includes two doubles and an ensuite primary bedroom.
The sun room is tucked away, creating a private niche with lake side views
Each area of the house – the primary living space and the two bedroom wings – is set beneath a steep monopitched roof. External walls are clad in vertically mounted charred wooden siding, accentuating the steep roofs and the relationship between the structure and the surrounding tree trunks. The north façade is more private and insular, while the lake façade features floor to ceiling glazing, as well as a sliding glass doors opening out on to the deck.
Bedrooms have views into the surrounding forest
The architects have left the landscape as undisturbed as possible, with stairs and decks around the perimeter to connect with and constrain the existing contour of the site. As a result, the main deck has many steps and tiers, making it an outdoor forum for connection and dining.
The main deck leads down to an outdoor living room
The interior palette consists of Maple plywood cladding on the key interior walls, juxtaposed with recycled wood in the entrance foyer and a cold rolled steel backdrop for the wood-burning stone. The plan is arranged so that areas can be closed off when not in use to keep the heating costs down out of season, and high-performance glazing and a heat-recovery ventilation system further reduce energy consumption to create a retreat that feels entirely appropriate for its site.
'In the living room, a freestanding Stuv wood burning stove set on a stone ledge is complemented by a custom solution for firewood storage’
The cottage has been designed to preserve as much of the site as possible
The cottage seen from the lake shore
The entrance facade is private and secluded
-
Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everydayIn a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
-
Discover The Legacy, Hong Kong’s eye-catching new condoThe Legacy, by ACPV Architects Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, is a striking new condo tower that aims to ‘create a sense of community and solidarity among people’
-
In BDSM biker romance ‘Pillion’, clothes become a medium for ‘fantasy and fetishism’Costume designer Grace Snell breaks down the leather-heavy wardrobe for the Alexander Skarsgård-starring Pillion, which traces a dom/sub relationship between a shy parking attendant and a biker
-
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 farmhousesInspired by local farmhouses, Canadian cabin Timbertop 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
-
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
