Anyone who’s been on holiday—whether a weekend road trip or a multi-leg international journey—knows the “We’re here!” feeling well: that moment where you feel like the journey (and real life) are behind you, and you’re officially, truly, on vacation.

It’s a sensation of letting go, and entering into a new frame of mind—at least for a little while. And it’s exactly what homeowners Aaron and Orlee (and their kids) wanted to amplify in their own vacation retreat, the Ell House.

“They just really wanted to arrive in the space,” says Montreal-based architect Ravi Handa, who collaborated with AAmp Studio on the couple’s 2,240-square-foot getaway on the shores of Lake Ontario. “They want to just put down their bags and forget about the city.”

It’s easy to do just that, as you step through the house’s massive vestibule, which acts as a literal and metaphorical buffer zone between the home and the rest of the world. From here, a sweeping view of the water is the first thing to greet you: welcome to vacation mode.

The property is in Prince Edward County, a region popular with vacationing Torontonians. And why wouldn’t it be? It’s rural, it’s waterfront, and just down the road from Ontario wine country. “It’s a bit of a rural paradise,” says Handa.

But while the building takes some cues from an agrarian architectural tradition, this is anything but a country shack: the modern cottage features four bedrooms and two baths in one wing, in addition to the open-concept common area with the kitchen, dining room, powder room, and living room on the other side.

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The exterior is clad in burnt cedar, and the carbon-colored building pops against the sun-washed grass and blue sky. (“Lake Ontario is so vast, it looks like an ocean, so we really wanted a sharp contrast,” says Handa.)

But inside this black box, conversely, it’s pure light. “The idea was to have the whole place as outward looking as possible,” says Handa. So he and the AAmp Studio team went through, room by room, to determine how to maximize the views at every moment.

Wherever you are, so is nature: a sliver of the water, grass, or sky is visible from almost anywhere in the home. “From an architectural perspective, you’re in connection with the outdoors always,” adds Anne-Marie Armstrong, co-principal of AAmp Studio. Even the interior reflects the colors and textures of organic materials—from the pine slat ceilings to the concrete floor to the stone countertops.

The walls are painted a soft white, and white-washed pine lines the ceilings to draw attention to the cathedral ceilings and amplify the natural light that pours in. The minimalist finishing also acts as a quiet backdrop for the changing seasons on view via the dozens of windows, with each vista framed by warm pine like a veritable work of art.

In the process of accomplishing that “arrival” sensation, the design team created another feeling, too: that of never wanting to leave. “The family love going up here, and the peace they get,” says Handa. “Every time he’s in the living room, Aaron sends me a picture of the view.”

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Ravi Handa Architect with AAmp Studio / @rhaworks @aampstudio

Builder/General Contractor: Reeves Fine Homes / @reevesfinehomes

Structural Engineer: Latéral Conseil / @lateralconseil

Charred Cedar Siding: Blackwood Siding Co. / @blackwoodsiding

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