Holiday Home, Otter Lake Ontario, Canada

When most people think of places for a holiday home, they have visions of beaches, golf courses, resorts and chalets. But few have the courage, the kind of place, architects Andre Lessard and Barbara Dewhirst should choose a perfect. “We saw the site on a rainy autumn morning,” Dewhirst said his Otter Lake, Ontario, the weekend on the site. “The place was invaded by the hemlock trees, and it was dark and dark. We immediately decided to buy it. ”

The price could be the right thing, but, like many other home builders hurry, was the couple who has purchased the land the easier the test. Construction was delayed for years, and the whole process took almost a decade due to factors such as high local environmental conditions, building codes and cash flow concerns.

On most weekends, architects, lead through six hours trip would be their Toronto home in the camp on 32 acres of property with her three boys who were three, five and nine years old when she acquired the property. At first the children were urban dwellers, more accustomed to taxis and lath that tree frogs and lichens, but the new site was better than the scouts when it comes to teaching about the nature of their arrival. “Children are not expected to live a rugged, swampy well,” said Lessard, a little embarrassed at the memory. “The first time she saw a beaver swimming in the water, they thought that c It was a crocodile. ”

The boys quickly adapted to hunt wild animals to help around the lake by canoe and their parents, the landscape is a difficult task, which involves clearing out of the water logging, trimming trees, and construction of a home. The time roughing it was also the structure of the family to a perfect gift for the site. There were environmental regulations, local codes require a setback of 100 feet from the lake, but not limited to their aesthetic choices, more rustic feel, they decided to take the house of 300 meters from the entrance to their common property. Ardent modernists and advocates of green design selected, Dewhirst Lessard and a big house at a higher level to further expand out of the water instead of felled trees. The three-story triangular tower maximizes both their views over the water and minimize their footprint on the earth.

Aware of the inaccessibility of the road, but understanding the need for a stable structure, choice of architects to build the chassis gauge steel beams ten feet dime weighting no more than 25 pounds. To ensure that the house does not pass through a change of wind, and Dewhirst Lessard recruited the expertise of a friend, the structural engineer Eric Jokinen. Jokinen initial surprise, the choice of construction materials more admiration, making him the house Dub, The Tower of Bebel, in terms of snap-together assemblies of metal toys.