“When we first set out on this crazy adventure, we always pictured parking Woody in a place like this,” Brian says. “We honestly couldn’t have imagined it would be this spectacular.”
“The liberal use of wood roots the structure in the landscape and provides the owners with an experience strongly connected with location,” Herrin says. The exterior’s Western red cedar shingle siding has a semi-transparent stain, half Fieldstone and half Burnt Hickory from Cabot.
While most of the ground level is given over to the large open living and dining area, it also includes a small pantry, office, and Japanese bathroom. An integrated Sub-Zero refrigerator is almost unnoticeable behind its charred cedar cladding.
The mix of stone, masonry, and wood in the south-facing terrace replicates the style of the original house. In order to ensure the space felt warm and inviting, the architect replaced the existing steel structure with solid cedar, adding cedar posts and shutters to unite the wood ceiling with both the interior and with nature outside.
“The house turns its back to the street while opening up to the views to the northeast through a large glazed corner window system,” Hutchison says. One-by-four and one-by-six inch cedar siding, which were pre-stained in Cabot Semi-Transparent Black, were placed vertically and horizontally on the exterior as a subtle detail.
Brian and Joni Buzarde’s self-designed home sits on a customized chassis by PJ Trailers that’s just eight and a half feet wide. The 236-square-foot trailer is clad in cedar.
The cedar-and-glass structure rises over an expansive rear patio. Although it is larger than some of its neighbors, the home nearly matches the height line of the surrounding houses due to its flat, modern roof.
Architect Andrew Simpson and the owners wanted to keep the design simple and grounded with “a sense of modest honesty.” In terms of the exterior, “as much of the existing cedar cladding as possible was retained and reused.”
“From the street, it appears as a rectangular building with sloping shed roofs, but this is actually an illusion,” Hutchison notes. “The floor plan is actually U-shaped, wrapping around an entry courtyard that is contained by the continuous west facade.” A standing seam metal roof by Custom Bilt Metals blends in with the cedar siding.
A wall of three-inch-wide cedar slats contrasts with the tile backsplash.
The living room leads to a private outdoor patio. Before the renovation, the slightly below grade area was in plain sight to passersby, as it lays adjacent to the public walkway into the building. This less-than-ideal setup was addressed in the redesign by adding a slatted cedar perimeter fence, along with tall trees and shrubs. Clever hidden doors conceal patio storage under the entry walkway.
The renovated home maintains its original layout. To refresh the dated appearance of the space, Stonefox added cedar tongue-and-groove panels to the ceiling and refinished the floors. The living room rug is from Creative Matters, the WL Daybed is from Niedermaier, and the circular coffee table is a Tie and Die model from Holly Hunt.
Rydingsvärd often cooks out on his terrace, which offers a view of Mount Royal. The volume housing the sauna is clad in cedar planks that were painted black. The door and windows are by Alumilex, and the custom outdoor shower is by Avantage Plus.
In Bracebridge, Ontario, this cedar cabin with slatted wood screens treads lightly on the land. Read more about the project here.
“The unique site-plan includes the main house, a two-story dog run, and a guest cabin,” Flato says. “All are seamlessly stitched together by a grand boardwalk, making an arrival by boat or by car an equally engaging experience.” Vertical grain Western red cedar acts as the exterior siding.
To reference the original structure and to offer privacy, Grizzle left two of the shingled walls standing. The building, accessed by a cedar deck, opens to its surroundings via a sliding glass wall by Fleetwood and a bifold steel-and-glass garage door from Wilson Doors.
Buser and Chapoton blackened the exterior cladding themselves.
The cedar screen that extends out from the dining and living rooms traces the line of the actual setback and reads not as a wall of the house but as a delineator of exterior space. The same material is used on the railing on the roof deck and offers a bit of privacy without, according to Braver, “looking like a stockade.”
Down on the cedar dock, the view of nearby Bowen Island generates a dramatic foreground view, while the British Columbia mainland in the distance appears to be a world away.
The charred cedar exterior gently basks in the Alaskan sun.