After a Fire Razes a Beloved Cafe, the Owners Build Back—and Better Than Ever

By popular demand, a young couple resurrect the adored Fergie’s Cafe at their riverside resort in British Columbia, imbuing it with a tree house vibe.

Text by

Marni Elyse Katz

Photos by

Ema Peter

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On April 3, 2018, not long before dawn, Jessamy and Jake Freese held hands while they watched a raging fire burn down Fergie’s Cafe at Sunwolf, their riverside resort in Squamish, British Columbia. "It was so loud; there were unbelievable pops and crackles," Jessamy says.

After Jessamy and Jake purchased the Sunwolf resort in July 2010, local fishermen persuaded them to reopen the defunct Fergie’s Cafe. "With enthusiasm and naïveté, we just went for it," Jessamy says. The new Fergie’s opened for business in August 2019. — After Jessamy and Jake purchased the Sunwolf resort in July 2010, local fishermen persuaded them to reopen the defunct Fergie’s Cafe. "With enthusiasm and naïveté, we just went for it," Jessamy says. The new Fergie’s opened for business in August 2019.

The couple, who have three boys ages seven, five, and three, rehabilitated the flagging five-acre property and its 12 cozy cabins after purchasing it in 2010, though they’d mostly left the rundown—but beloved—blue cafe as is. When the fire razed it, they assumed they were out of the restaurant business because the site—the confluence of the Cheakamus and Cheekye Rivers—is a no-build zone. While they quickly arranged to service customers and upcoming wedding receptions via a food truck, the town’s planning office asked them to rebuild. "We were stunned," Jessamy says. "The community wanted their Fergie’s back."

The building is supported by concrete piers that stand on a five-by-five-by-two-foot foundation. "It’s the size of a footing for a high-rise apartment building, even though it’s a single-story," Hunter says.

Hunter developed a black stain that mimics the look of shou sugi ban’s fire-charred finish. "We didn't use shou sugi ban because it can wash away in our [very rainy] climate," Hunter says.

By June, the couple had met with local architect Chris Hunter of hunterOFFICE to reimagine Fergie’s Cafe. Rigorous building requirements dictated that the cafe, which could not exceed its original 1,450 square feet, be elevated 10 feet so that flood waters could flow beneath it. "Two large rivers converge at the property, and it’s in a volcanic torrent valley," Hunter says. "We had to design something that would withstand that."

Hunter used prefabricated dowel laminated timber panels by StructureCraft for the ceiling and floor, which he left exposed, and the bar ledge is made from black-painted steel. The view looks straight to Mount Alpha.

Steel beams, painted black, support the timber slab floor and roof. "Leaving flat planes of dowel laminated timber and C-shaped steel supports exposed is an honest way of expressing the architectural structure," Hunter says.

Jessamy and Jake were also committed to building sustainably. In addition to using environmentally friendly materials—including exposed prefabricated dowel laminated timber panels by StructureCraft for the floor and roof—the team incorporated earth tubes to passively heat and cool the building. "There are four 150-foot-long tubes 18 inches in diameter buried 10 feet underground in a 20-foot-wide trench," Jake reels off.

A shady boardwalk leads from the parking area to the building where a customer looks out over the covered walkway. The couple retained the original style of the logo, which a local sign artist painted on the stained siding.

An LED light strip under the siding draws people along the boardwalk.

How do you get customers to the door of a cafe that is 10 feet in the air? Hunter designed a boardwalk which also has the advantage of being wheelchair accessible. The approximately 500-yard-long, rough-sawn red cedar walkway stretches through the property, leading guests from the parking area to the building. "Instead of being arduous, it’s a beautiful walk," Hunter says. "You cherish the process."

Leafy branches reach over the wall of the covered walkway which is supported by black structural steel. Windows offer a glimpse into the restaurant kitchen.

Upon arriving at the minimalist, black-stained cedar-clad structure, the boardwalk transitions into a covered tree house–like balcony. Along the building, long, skinny windows offer a glimpse into the bustling commercial kitchen; on the other side, branches from the property’s 100-year-old walnut tree reach over the rail. The effect was part of the plan. "We stood under the tree to determine exactly where the walkway should go," Jessamy says. "The building is designed around the tree."

The walkway and balcony are nestled into the canopy of the 100-year-old walnut tree.

Casual stadium stairs can serve as a playspace or seating. "It's an intentional way of moving people down into the landscape," Hunter says.

At the end of the building, the deck turns the corner onto a cantilevered balcony with seating for a dozen along the edge. The balcony, which hangs 10 feet from the structure, looks to Mount Alpha. "When you're sitting on the balcony, there's a wall of green foliage to your left, the mountain in front of you, and the river to the right," says Jessamy. "It’s like an IMAX movie."

The bar is topped with a solid maple slab fabricated by local artisan Brendan Rivison. "We couldn't find a slab long enough, so I added a piece in the center and turned it 90 degrees, so the grain changes direction," Walker says. "This beautifully and subtly delineates the server pick-up zone."

About a Stool barstools by Hay line the 20-foot counter that is faced with tile from Ames Tile & Stone. "It had been discontinued, so we got a great price and bought all the remaining inventory," Walker says. Volumes pendants by ANDlight in Vancouver hang above it. Local craftsman Roland Benesocky at Generation Fine Woodwork made the cabinetry behind the bar.

A four-panel slider reveals the building’s only indoor seating: a bar with a black stacked tiled front and a showstopping maple slab top hailing from a locally felled tree. Local designer Jaclyn Walker of Occasus Design conceived the Scandinavian-meets-Japanese scheme, which complements the black-stained vertical cladding of the exterior. "The interior and exterior are so fundamentally integrated with each other and with the landscape," she says. "They had to speak not only the same language, but as a single voice."

"You can cantilever the timber slab quite far; it’s 10 feet out without any structure supporting it," Hunter says.

The angled steel staircase has perforated steel mesh side panels.

Long black metal tables and benches from Case Furniture's EOS collection populate the underbelly of the building, which became a dining pavilion.

"We were always able to add more picnic tables to the property, but this sheltered outdoor area is a such a gift," Jake says. "The fireplace makes it even more comfy."

An angled steel staircase followed by precast concrete stairs lead people to the ground level. Modern picnic tables offer covered dining underneath the building, where a rusted, steel-clad wall featuring a wood-burning fireplace anchors one end. Like the building, it’s a contemporary riff on the property’s kumbaya vibe. "I’m surprised at how well this big black box fits into the rugged environment," Jake says. "It looks like it belongs here."

Old-timers wanted them to resurrect the kitschy shack, but given the rigorous building requirements and resulting financial investment, that vision didn’t make sense. "If we were going to spend this much just for a foundation, we weren’t going to put a shack on top of it," Jessamy says.

"I am typically hired to provide some kind of escape; a refuge from the streetscape and elements," Walker says. "In the case of Fergie's, the entire landscape itself is the destination; the cafe simply provides a place to pause and take it all in."

Pops of blue throughout, from the chairs to the coffee mugs to the washroom vestibule, are an affectionate nod to the original Fergie's Cafe. "It's smartened up, but the heart is the same," Jake says.

Touches of blue, the Fergie’s script logo, and the establishment’s welcoming family-focused feel are odes to the original cafe. But the earth-friendly, contemporary design is pure Jessamy and Jake. "If you try to please everyone, you get something you don’t recognize as your own," Jessamy says. "We went all in—and then we went even further. We didn’t want to end up saying, ‘Imagine what could have been?’"