Set in the green hills of Ontario's Grey Country, Ridge House sits in the liminal space between a gentle, grass-covered slope and a forest. The residence is a project by Toronto-based architecture studio Superkül and its authors took the site's nature and nuances heavily into account when they designed this family home for their private client.
Explore Ridge House by Superkul
Preserving and working with the surroundings was paramount to the architects – as was ensuring this is a piece of sustainable architecture which respects its natural environment and works with passive design strategies. It is a home created to connect its residents with their context throughout all four seasons of the year, keeping a low (quite literally) profile and a level of openness to the outdoors.
The team writes: 'Not only did we design with the land, we also found imaginative ways to bring it inside. The principal bathroom looks out onto an internal courtyard located beneath an aperture within the cleft roof structure that opens skyward. This private garden is concealed by thin wood slats on both façades, which, together with the aperture, create a sense of airiness and filter light into the heart of the program.'
The house's volume is inspired by the landforms on site, and the interior feels equally sensitive to its site in terms of colours, materials and textures. Yet at the same time, it displays a strong contemporary minimalism throughout.
The single-level interior includes a living room, dining room, and main bedroom and bathroom. A guest wing contains a TV room, gym, and garage.
Moments, such as the firepit under the marine-grade plywood vaulted ceiling in the living space, provide cosiness which balances the tall ceilings and dramatic, geometric skylights, which help the owners track the sun through the day - making for a modern and comfortable space, fit for all weathers.
-
Mexico's Office of Urban Resilience creates projects that cities can learn fromAt Office of Urban Resilience, the team believes that ‘architecture should be more than designing objects. It can be a tool for generating knowledge’
-
‘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
-
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
