It’s fair to say that former Olympic rower Jake Wetzel didn’t have much construction or carpentry know-how when he started remodeling this cottage in British Columbia. “I was an athlete, and then I did a PhD in finance, so the world of building things was very far away from my experience,” says Jake. “But I had my hands on every single aspect of this house, so I learned a huge amount by doing it.”

Originally built in 1930, the nearly century-old cottage is standard issue for its neighborhood, an older pocket in the city of Kamloops. What isn’t standard is home’s large lot, which caught Jake’s eye on his initial visit. “The site had a lot of really interesting things about it. It was a very wide lot with a grade. And the house sits close to the street, so there were a lot of opportunities for landscaping,” says Jake.

Additionally, the house is located within blocks of the hospital where Jake’s wife, Sigrid, works as a doctor, making for “an amazing work/life balance,” says Jake.

Before: Exterior

After: Exterior

The home’s interior had been hardly touched—it consisted of an assortment of small rooms spread over two disconnected floors: the main floor, and a walk-out basement with seven-foot-high ceilings.

The small windows didn’t do much to connect the living areas to the exterior, either. So, Jake worked with an architect friend to hash out a remodel concept, and then he met Vancouver firm Twobytwo Architecture Studio through friends, and had them refine the many details.

“When I came onto the project, Jake had just started excavating the lower level,” says lead designer Jenny Bassett. “Jake is very ‘do-it-himself.’” The homeowner worked alongside contractor Antony Milobar, who happens to live across the street. “We basically built the whole house together,” says Jake.

Before: Side Yard

After: Side Yard

After: Basement

Over three years, Jake and Antony executed the firm’s design plan, first by excavating the basement to raise the ceiling height by two feet, and relocating the main living spaces downstairs. Two sets of folding glass doors now open to patios on either end—one facing east for morning coffee, and one facing west for afternoon drinks around the fire pit.

Then they installed a new staircase to connect the floors, reconfigured the upper level, converted the garage into a primary suite, and created a glass-enclosed home office for Jake.

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

In terms of aesthetics, Jake was inspired by trips to Denmark, where Sigrid is originally from. “My dream was to do a project like what I saw in Denmark, where they put new together with old—I thought of leaving the facade, and then doing something totally modern inside,” says Jake.

To that end, the team kept to a streamlined palette of white walls and concrete. “I wanted it to have a gallery feel,” says Jake—and there’s no excess adornment or trim. Intentional reveals mark where materials meet, such as between the counter and cabinets in the kitchen, or on the side of the staircase. “The reveal moment is another modern detailing idea that shows up all around the house,” says Bassett, noting that it also appears at doorframes and baseboards.

Still, vestiges of the old remain—and not just in the home’s shell. In the living room, the team kept the fireplace and leaded glass windows. “There were so many historic qualities to the house that we wanted to maintain, as we introduced more modern elements—so historic and modern intersect together,” says Bassett.

After: Staircase and Office

And although construction on the project has wrapped, Bassett and Twobytwo are still working with Jake on a few custom furniture pieces and installations. “I wanted to do a combination of architecture, landscape, art, and furniture—to get all those things to work in harmony,” says Jake. “And everyone had a really good vision for how to achieve that.”

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

After: Primary Suite

More Before & After stories:

The Tide Turns for a Washed-Up Coastal Home Near Vancouver

An Architect Levels Up His Tiny Seattle Cottage With a Soaring Skylight

A Humdrum Midcentury in Vancouver Gets an Origami-Like Addition

Project Credits:

Architecture: Twobytwo Architecture Studio / @twobytwostudio

Builders: Jake Wetzel and Antony Milobar

Landscape Design: Catherine Howell and Twobytwo Architecture Studio

Interior Design: Twobytwo Architecture Studio

Cabinetry: Form and Forest

Electrician and Plumber: Thomas Neufeld