There used to be nothing here, and that was the site’s greatest allure. Set on Lake Superior at the far end of a twisting country road, Jay Kerr and Lissa Fraser Kerr’s property is a true retreat into the Canadian wilderness. The rocky shoreline faces water that changes moods as quickly as the breeze—it’s either temperamental with whisked white caps, or a serene reflection of towering evergreen and birch trees.

As a marketing specialist and landscape photographer, Jay loves this part of Northern Ontario, known as the Algoma District, which was made famous by artists who captured its scenes on canvas. His wife, a media manager and former television producer, joined him and their son on frequent trips to the area from their home in Toronto, and also fell for its natural beauty. “Being surrounded by forest and looking out over a vast lake creates a sense of calm you can’t experience in any city,” she says. They came here frequently to camp and kayak, and imagined the possibility of claiming a corner of this setting for themselves.

“We looked for the right property for over a year, mostly researching online to find the right place where there were cottages on the water, year-round road access, and internet connectivity,” Lissa remembers. “We knew we wanted to be in northern Ontario, but not in conventional Muskoka or Georgian Bay.”

When they came across this particular plot of land, it was late fall. They contacted the owner in the winter to express their interest, and in the spring they made an offer. “That summer, we camped on our neighbor’s lot, and he and his chainsaw helped remove the trees on our property to mark the path for a building and driveway,” Jay says. “We sited the house to embrace the lake view. It’s fascinating to watch the lake and the horizon change constantly—not to mention the breathtaking sunsets.”

The couple insist that the process was an exercise in partnership. “We planned and oversaw the renovation of our home in Toronto 15 years ago, and no divorce ensued,” Lissa jokes. They agreed that Scandinavian design would be the backbone of the property, and those simple lines would be heightened by midcentury details. And most importantly, they wanted it all to be built off-site.

“On a trip to Iceland, we noticed how shed-roof structures are set into the landscape, and we sought out a company to build it,” Jay says. “We found the Legendary Group, which specializes in timber-frame homes, and they had a shed-roof model called the Gneiss Vista. We liked the size and could visualize the frame, but we knew we had our own ideas on interior layout and how the windows and doors would function.”

Shop the Look

As the home was being built the following winter, the couple maximized their time by finishing a new road, bringing in electricity, and finding a contractor to pour the foundation. The home was ready for installation by the summer, at the same time the septic system was installed, and all was going to plan. Well, except for one small hiccup.

“We had to find a crane at the last minute because the one we had booked was locked in a yard where a worker’s strike was going on,” Jay says. “Luckily, our contractor found a rig and an operator before lunchtime! He’d never lifted the walls or roof of a house before, so it was slow going, but we were grateful it was all done in a day.”

They spent the summer sleeping in their shell of an almost-home, with its white pine walls and tongue-and-groove ceiling, which is accented by Douglas fir beams. “It gave us time to figure out where we wanted everything to go, walls and all,” Lissa adds. An entryway punctuated by a tall glass door separates the private areas from the public ones, where a wall of 12-foot windows gives way to three bedrooms and one bathroom. A partially covered deck is steps from the water.

“The view is really the focal point, so the windows are large and unadorned,” she says. “I love that I can sit and eat dinner watching the sun sparkle on the lake, or I can look out the patio doors to a perfectly situated ancient cedar.” Minimalist, modern furniture completes the project, which was finished over the course of a year in 2019. Now Jay and Lissa have the home they’d long imagined on this shore, with occasional visits from their son. There’s still more or less nothing but nature here, just as they had hoped.

“Starting with untouched forest and ending up with a year-round home is a dream come true,” Lissa says. We have 200 feet of waterfront and no sign of neighbors through the forest on either side.”

Related Reading:

Prefab Made This Super Remote House in the Ontario Wilderness Possible

A Log Cabin Kit Home Pops Up at the Edge of a Lake in Southern Finland

Project Details:

Architect of Record and Structural Engineer: Milan Smeh, Legendary Group / @canadaprefab

Builder: Built Wright Construction

Interior Design: Jane Lockhart, Jane Lockhart Design

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A Nordic-Inspired Prefab Lets a Canadian Couple Get Away From It All