A Creative Couple Build a Sanctuary for Living and Working Outside Montreal

Ready to trade out their life in Montreal for "slower living," Ronny, a photographer, and his wife, Caroline, a writer, gave up their condo and began looking for property outside the city. They bought three acres in Eastman that had a small stream and a menagerie of wildlife, parked a trailer on it, and, over the next few months, got a feel for the land to find just the right spot for their new home.

By the time they approached designer Nicholas Francoeur, they had a pretty good idea of what they wanted: a single-story design with plenty of studio space, rooms with specific dimensions, and a mono-pitched roof. Francoeur was immediately taken with the concept for the roof.

"It is such a simple design," he says, "but offers a great variety of ceiling heights inside." It also lent itself to solar passive design. Francoeur positioned the larger facade to the south to maximize solar gains in winter while minimizing exposure to the north.

Another benefit of a mono-pitched roof is that, come spring, snow slides cleanly off the structure. When the snow does begin to melt, an extended overhang protects the foundation and cladding from runoff. In the summer, it filters southern light. The roof is a trapezoid shape; it tapers toward the entry, making the home’s scale feel more modest from the front.

Francoeur saw functional details like the pitch of the roof and its eaves as as opportunities to contribute to aesthetics. "I wanted to find a way to make them not just blend in, but to look good," he says. He matched the heaviness of the roof with thick walls, and, instead of using picture frame windows, opted for a series of tall, rectangular ones. The design is reminiscent of the colonnade of an ancient temple, and reflects the vertical lines of the surrounding woods while giving the home a simple permanence.

In another marriage of beauty and function, Francoeur used yakisugi cladding, a charred wood that’s striking in appearance and protects the home from weather and pests. "The patterns generated by the charring process make each piece unique," says the architect.

To contrast the yakisugi, Ronny and Caroline chose white aspen for the external soffits and the ceiling. "When I noticed the pattern of the snow, then the dark roof, then the light-colored soffits, I was completely taken aback," says Francoeur. "The results you don’t expect are often the most awe inspiring."

Less popular than cedar, the white aspen used for the soffits and ceilings is largely free of knots, making it, says Francoeur, "extremely beautiful."  The project, he says, would "not have been the same if Ronny and Caroline had not found it." For the built-in pieces, the three agreed on white maple to add a touch of warmth to the interior palate.

Given the single-story design, Francoeur felt it was important to provide as wide a variety of internal experiences as possible. He let the slanted ceiling dictate orientation, positioning the more private spaces to the north where the ceiling is seven feet, and the common spaces to the south where the ceiling soars to fifteen feet. "You really do feel the shift in scale as you make your way through the house," he says.

Where the ceiling is highest, Francoeur took advantage by including a hidden storage mezzanine with playful little windows that look into the entry and the main hallway. They jokingly call the tiny windows "meurtrieres," the French term for slits in castle walls through which arrows are shot.

In planning how to arrange the home’s studio spaces, Francoeur reflected on what makes a work environment stimulating, homing in on two things: the sensation of studying in a café, where action, sound, and visuals inspire creativity; and his favorite spot in a library for studying during architecture school, where a north-facing window cast a "soft, even light."

To replicate the environment of a café, Francoeur opted to integrate the studio spaces within the domestic space without separation. Thus, the couple can work without being isolated from each other, or the rest of the house.

In addition, he placed all four studios in front of large windows so that the clients are constantly aware of the natural world as they work. Ronny even has a camera set up at the window of his studio, and has caught amazing images of all kinds of wildlife.

To capture the light he loved as a student, Francoeur situated the writing studio and photography studio on the north side of the home. "The scene you see is lit by southern light," he says, "and that light is reflected back inside, filling the space with a magical light that’s infused by the colors of nature. To me, that’s extremely inspirational and conducive to sitting quietly and working."

Francoeur used concrete flooring throughout for its simplicity of application and maintenance, as well as for its thermal qualities. It retains heat during the winter, and stays cool during the warmer days of summer.

The towering ceilings provided an opportunity to both capture additional light, and connect to the outdoors. "To me, a high ceiling means nothing without light," says Francoeur. "It is amazing to have views of the sky as well as the surrounding woods—it really makes you feel like you are immersed in nature as opposed to just looking out at it."

The walls were intentionally left bare throughout the home. Keeping them open, the clients and Francoeur agree, gives the home a clean and refreshing look. And, this allowed the play of shadows and light to generate visual interest.

Ronny and Caroline’s one indulgence is a stained glass window off the kitchen. "With the tall windows, which was Nicholas’s idea, the house feels like we live in a Roman temple or a church with the colonnade aspect," says Ronny. To play up that element, he and Caroline found a local artist who specializes in making and restoring stained glass for churches. "Mr. Rodrigue made us a beautiful piece inspired by Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona," he explains.

The blue in the stained glass connects with the immersive blue of the primary bathroom. Here, Ronny and Caroline chose tile in a deep-aqua color from Italy that "really makes it feel as if you are 40 feet underwater, scuba diving," notes Ronny.

Happy to have escaped the light pollution of Montreal, the clients became passionate about natural light and wanted to keep light fixtures in the house to an absolute minimum. "We are so obsessed with our interiors being brightly lit," Francoeur says of his firm, "but the clients were right to use restraint." He avoided fixtures on the ceiling, instead using a few simple hanging lamps, and sconces that reflect light upward. "The moody, dimly lit interior fits really well with the reverent feeling of the house," he says.

Related Reading:

A Geometric Montreal Home Creates a Sense of Grandeur With a Small Footprint

Project Credits:

 Designer of Record: Nicholas Francoeur / @nikolas.francoeur

 Builder/General Contractor: Maisons Éléments and Renovia / @renovia_inc

Structural Engineer: Sébastien Loulou

Photographer: Raphael Thibodeau / @raphael_thibodeau

Landscape Design:  Friche Atelier

Kitchen Design:  Hauteur d'Homme / @ahauteurdhomme

Cabinetry Design:  Xaver Hackenbeck

Furniture:  Element de Base / @elementdebase

Stained Glass:  Atelier Rodrigue

Certification: LEED Platinum