It's twice as much as a private forest retreat in a modern beachfront mansion in Ontario
Ten years ago, architect Malcolm Wildeboer stood on a remote land in Ontario, looking at the calm waters of the Woods Lake. He was surrounded by hemlock, with an open blue sky above him, and he lived in the ideal location for the client's future home. Near the beachfront, each room has the potential to enjoy the lake view – but isolate from the sight of the neighbors – the site is naturally cleaned up, and Wildeboer envisions a clean modern structure with minimal disturbance to the surrounding landscape.
“The specimen forest of hemlock is incredible,” said Wilderbor, co-founder of Van Denberg of Ottawa and Wild Architects. “The client and I have a deep passion for the outdoors, for the woods, so throughout the project, we are committed to protecting trees, which is crucial to him.”
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“A disturbing website is seen as losing the opportunity to live in harmony with nature,” the homeowner said. He noted that he and his family have been searching for a location for years before they discovered that the 20-acre property planned a multi-phase project with several new buildings. “From the first walk of the site, it was obvious that the perfect homestead was finally discovered.”
The client teamed up with Design Studio Acdo in Wildeboer and Toronto, describing his vision, which is inspired by the public spirit of traditional hotel retreats (family loves to entertain large groups), but with the modern sensibility of a modern hospitality project. The design is also severely affected by its pastoral environment.
On two wings (one public and one private) and three floors, the house forms 10,000 square feet on two wings, united by simple yet elegant concrete, locally sourced soapstone and smoked silk-brushed oak. “You can see a human hand,” said Abraham Chan, founding partner at ACDO, about the carefully designed handmade details, including a custom-designed soapstone floor. “We deliberately used an interesting puzzle pattern just to showcase this craft concept in the project.”
Residential and dining areas are centered on the home’s public sector with their high, 24-foot ceilings, and the love of the clients to host dinners. On one hand, there is a massive concrete volume with a built-in fireplace and a set of hidden stairs leading to the guest rooms. “It's a very important structural element of the whole project,” Wildeboer said. “We had an incredibly spacious room with this soaring ceiling, all the structural loads back to this fireplace and then to the kitchen walls,” he said. [which is also concrete]. These two structures are the basic core of the building. Then we have a very light short space in the middle. ”
A large concrete box at one end of the living room accommodates the fireplace and covers a set of stairs to the second level.
On one side of the public space, the custom Christophe Delcourt dining table can accommodate up to 18 people. The rest of the room is measured to four separate seating areas, which include a gaming table and a spacious living Divani sofa, while two parts rotating chairs designed by Yabu Pushelberg (Chan and Sam khouvongsavanh, Acdo, another co-worker of Acdo, who worked at the Toronto company for several years, provided a cozy-t for Midferttern-t).
Below the feet, a 28 x 40-foot carpet is customized from the creative material, which looks like four separate pieces, further emphasizing the area inside the room. “Rugs are a way to absorb sound and create softness and connect all seat areas and connect all seat areas,” Chen said. “In fact, this actually has a feature because we put in the acoustic panel, which helps to reduce the sponge-like mass of the space.” ”
The kitchen is located opposite the dining area and is located in the second structural concrete volume. Here, oak cabinets with gold wire mesh (all mills in the house are custom made by Erik cabinets) are paired with emerald quartzite, which forms a custom island, countertop and backsplash. “When it comes to color, we sprinkle it throughout the project,” Khouvongsavanh said. “We are trying to create these interesting details in this overall space.”
With custom mills and eye-catching emerald Quartzite features, the kitchen is more sculptural than the utilitarians.
The designer used unique stone varieties elsewhere – wearing Alexis Ondulato and new titanium marble in the bathroom and covering all four walls of the second floor office in the kitchen’s green quartzite to create a strong but streamlined visual impact. “I think this is a great example of client style,” Khouvongsavanh said. “He was bold, but perfected with this real graphic stone.”
According to the homeowner, from the start of the project, “internal planning represents a journey through the forest.” Each guest was in a different configuration (one with footbeds and the other was a bunk), but they all considered details such as an ensuite bathroom, suitcase and integrated reading lights to ease the guest’s accommodation. “If you look at four different rooms, you’ll notice that they all have different palettes,” Chan said. “It’s an interesting way to design rooms in different seasonal identities that we found in eastern Ontario.”
The lower level of the house is concentrated on entertainment. A cozy cinema with oversized Montauk sofas is a favorite escape on rainy days, and a large walk-in wine storage room with backlit shelves and sliding glass doors is a welcome stop when friends visit. Chan and Khouvongsavanh once again implemented the stone in the room, this time with granite, decorated with rolling finishes that layered the texture and connected the interior to nature. “You get that rough finish, like you found on the hill,” Chen said.
Although clients and their families do not live in their woodland resort year-round, they do not classify it as a vacation home. “Our heart and mind will never leave home,” he said. He noted that its beauty, function and relationship with its surroundings fully satisfy their desire to share property with the closed property.
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