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The Inside Out residence has narrow, sheltered ledges along its perimeter where cats can nap in the sun.

This revamped Montreal flat includes a rooftop sauna lined with torrified, or dried, cedar. Outfitted with glass paneling and oriented to capture views of Mount Royal, it is the ideal haven for this hardworking homeowner.

Achieving such efficiency and maintaining the integrity of the wetlands and woodlands on the property meant more research for both the designers and the resident—just getting approval for the siting of the buildings and the driveway took eight months—but Hague is hardly one to do things half way. “A lot of times couples engage in house-building, like birds. I'm doing this solo, more like a monk,” he says of the deeply personal undertaking.

The new kitchen features a full-sized refrigerator behind the paneling, a multi-functional oven and induction cooktop, and a stainless-steel sink with integrated cutting boards. “The induction stove top was carefully chosen because it's a durable glass top and it's very efficient,” says Jones. “It's also spatially efficient because you can put a cutting board on top of it, or prepare food on top of it.”