‘A great place to just hang out in’
DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM THE LANDSCAPE WAS ONE OF THE KEYS TO MODERNIZING A COTTAGE PERCHED ON THE SUMMIT OF A PRIVATE GEORGIAN BAY ISLAND
The owners of this bright and breezy cottage, perched on the summit of a private Georgian Bay island, had lived in it since the ’90s, and had come to love the good things about it. But as their daughter got older, the couple began to see the opportunities the design was causing them to pass up — particularly the amazing, mile-wide views over the water that its hilltop vantage point afforded. They called in architect Andre D’Elia, who with partner Meg Graham heads the Toronto firm Superkül, to bring this gem into the 21st century.
“It was built sometime in the early ’80s by the previous owner and had some good bones, but it was dated and didn’t relate to the landscape very well,” explains D’Elia. “Plus there were some issues with ‘not-quite-right’ construction that needed remedying. And they had some specific needs: they wanted to add on a separate master suite for themselves — previously, all the bedrooms were clustered together, which was a little uncomfortable when they had guests. And they wanted to put in a Bulthaup kitchen, which had been their dream for years.”
The layout — with its long, open A-frame construction and a soaring, whitewashed cedar-strip ceiling — was light and airy to begin with, but the exposed post-and-beam structure put posts and crossbeams in awkward places, and led to an excess of odd “jigs and jogs,” as D’Elia puts it. And the windows, considering the million-dollar views all around, were surprisingly small and stingy. The design needed editing as much as anything else.
One of the keys to modernizing the cottage, D’Elia quickly realized, was to draw inspiration from the landscape. Unlike areas further south such as Muskoka or the Kawarthas, Georgian Bay’s topography is tougher and hardier, with undulating swaths of exposed granite and wind-twisted conifers. The material palette D’Elia and his team chose, at least for the exterior, reflects the muted tones all around: low-maintenance grey metal roofing; cedar strip siding, carefully stained to closely match the exposed rocks; and window frames in a neutral taupe that virtually disappears when you look out at the view.
The boardwalk leading up from the dock snakes and meanders over the rocks as it rises, culminating at steps up to the main-level deck that encircles the entire structure. Because the family spends so much time outdoors, the deck was configured with as much care as the interior: cantilevering or otherwise extending out above ground in some places, narrowing to walkway-width in others, depending on its relationship with the interior rooms or the contours of the land beneath.
On the side facing the most commanding view — which rims the family room and, further along, the new master bedroom wing — separate deck areas for each broaden and step down at multiple levels. “In the master bedroom area, stepping the deck down almost to grade level meant we could avoid installing the glass railings we used elsewhere,” D’Elia explains, “so the view from here is completely unobstructed.”
As you enter, the simple logic of the interior layout is immediately apparent. A central path of sorts, under a vaulted ceiling that reaches 15 feet at its peak, leads straight back to a strategically placed window at the far end, perfectly framing a pair of massive boulders just beyond. Along the way, sliding glass doors, broad windows and skylights fill the interior with light and landscape, brightening even the gloomiest of Georgian Bay days. In some instances, the windows were deliberately designed to frame a view just so: the wide, rectangular window above the kitchen prep counter wraps around a corner, creating a Group-of-Seven-like portrait of wind, water and trees.
In other places, the openness of the space is tempered by elements that return a sense of scale — and even a kind of cottagey cosiness. The best instance of this is the living room fireplace mantel, which is clad in wide horizontal boards of whitewashed cedar, a nod to traditional wooden clapboard. And such high ceilings can sometimes make a person feel small, D’Elia acknowledges, so great care was taken to balance the height with human-scaled elements. In the living room, the side window matches the height of the main window, which ends just under the eaves at a comfortable 7½ feet. Other windows match this beltline, too, most notably the “rock portrait” at the end of the hall; built-ins, like the cast-concrete fireplace hearth, are relatively low to the ground. The effect of all this subtle symmetry is an orderly, settled look that’s distinctly calming.
The original family room, with its own vaulted ceiling set cater-cornered to the main spine of the cottage, had an admirable sense of volume, but it was marred by the use of odd, pokey little windows. These were replaced on all three sides by sliding glass doors from floor to eave, which can be fully opened on sunny days to let in the breeze. The room also forms a sheltering side wall to another big two-level deck, for al fresco dining and sun bathing, or stargazing from lounge chairs at night.
From here the route leads along a breezeway, lined with sliding glass doors along its full length, toward the new master retreat at the end of the house. Here, the mood changes slightly, becoming more romantic, even cloistered. The whitewashed ceilings of the main section change to natural-finish knotty cedar strip; and while they are just as bright, the rooms in this wing are smaller and cosier.
One doorway leads to a home office, while the other leads into the master bedroom, with its own private view of trees, rocks, and the lake in the distance. Even the ensuite feels different from the more public areas: trimmed in slatted cedar, it features a large mirror that virtually disappears in a reflection of the conifers outside.
As is so often the case with very simple designs, getting the geometry just right was a very complicated process, but the result is a house that feels both bigger and more open than it really is, but that at last embraces the full potential of its spectacular setting.
“There are a variety of spaces in the cottage now, which it didn’t really have before,” D’Elia observes. “It’s not just about the design, or the view. The family entertains and invites people up to stay quite a lot, and it’s a great place to just hang out in. Even on the cloudiest days, it’s full of light, and it has this amazing feeling of calmness.”
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE DESIGN, OR THE VIEW. THE FAMILY ENTERTAINS AND INVITES PEOPLE UP TO STAY QUITE A LOT ... EVEN ON THE CLOUDIEST DAYS, IT’S FULL OF LIGHT, AND IT HAS THIS AMAZING FEELING OF CALMNESS. — ARCHITECT ANDRE D’ELIA