Set in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Magdalen Islands are as far from terra firma as you can get within the province of Quebec. At their windswept shores, rolling meadows and sand dunes give way to red cliffs, which tumble like crinkled curtains to the sea. Time passes slowly on the archipelago, which is one of the reasons Vincent Morel and Jan-Nicolas Vanderveken built their vacation home there. Vincent, who spent childhood summers on the islands, knew this was a place where he could decompress, dive into the sea, and feel the sand under his feet.

The couple purchased an empty plot on the western point of Havre Aubert Island, where the strong, constant wind means there are few trees—all the better for savoring views. “We’re on top of a small hill,” says Jan-Nicolas. “From here, we can see three of the seven islands, and two other hills, each with a house.” To the west, there’s only the sea; the couple’s property is the last before the swell.

La Shed designed Vincent and Jan-Nicolas’s Montreal apartment years earlier, so they recommissioned the firm to create a winterized vacation home and a three-season cabin for visiting friends. The main house and guest cabin riff on the islands’ traditional shingled houses, which have special vestibules—known locally as tambours—in front of their entrances to keep wind-borne dust from making it indoors.

But instead of adding these external foyers, la Shed opted for recessed entries that help break up the houses’ massings. “Playing with geometries, we came up with unique, asymmetrical shapes that are well anchored in the local context,” says architect Yannick Laurin. “They’re not too obvious, and they’re not copies.”

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The moment you enter the recessed loggia of the main house, the wind dies down. Step inside, and your feet land on another clever response to island life: a doormat sunken into the polished concrete floor to keep sand in one place. The powder room just off the hall has a shower for post-swim rinsing, and oversize windows frame views in every direction. “The Magdalen Islands are windy, and the summer season is short,” says Laurin. “With the expansive glazing, you can extend that season by bringing in views.”

“There’s a tradition on the islands to name things. These houses have already earned the nickname les pintes de lait—the milk cartons.”
—Yannick Laurin, architect

The owners’ favorite part of the house may well be the kitchen and dining area located just off the entrance. “We love to cook,” says Vincent, noting that the open space and ample countertops make it easy to do so while being surrounded by guests. On the other side of the house, the living room is “an intimate space,” says Jan-Nicolas. “It’s more about us, while the kitchen is about being with family and friends.”

Upstairs, the architects created a mezzanine that overlooks the dining table below. This level holds the bedrooms, which lie behind large pocket doors. “When it’s only us around, we keep the doors open,” says Jan-Nicolas. “We wanted this flow, like you have in a hotel suite, because we love to travel,” Vincent adds.

It takes two hours to fly from Montreal to the Magdalen Islands, where the couple have spent most of their time over the past year. While Vincent misses visiting museums and dining out, Jan-Nicolas says he now prefers to live here. “Everything is how and where it should be,” he says. “I would not change a thing.”

Project Credits:

Architecture: la Shed Architecture / @lashedarchitecture

Construction: Renaud & Vigneau / @renaudvigneau

Landscape Design: François Poirier

Cabinetry: Charles Després

Windows: Shalwin Contemporain

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A Couple’s Getaway on a Windswept Island in Quebec Riffs on Tradition