A Vacation Cottage Calls A Lakeside Forest Clearing Home
Vacation homes come in all shapes, sizes and styles and each has its own charm and uniqueness. We’re particularly fond of vacation homes which are simple and modest and which allow the focus to be on the views or the beautiful landscape that surrounds them. One such example is a cottage located in Saint-Élie-de-Caxton in Canada. It was designed by YH2 in 2017 and it offers a total of 140 square meters of living space.
The house is designed to look and feel like a cottage. It’s small, simple and it has a very close connection with nature. It sits in a small clearing on the shore of Lac Plaisant (Pleasant Lake) and its openness to nature is expressed in many beautiful ways. First of all, the foundation of the house is invisible and this allows to have a very small visual impact on the site and to become closely linked to its immediate surroundings by not interfering with them too much.
This chic little vacation house captures the very essence of cottage life in a very natural and subtle manner. Although it definitely looks like a cottage, it does so in a modern and refined manner. Like any authentic cottage, it’s constructed out of wood, inside and out and it has a large gable roof which contributes to a very clean frame and a minimalist overall appearance.
This vacation cottage is clad in white cedar boards and is minimalist inside and out. The side facades have large, tall glass panels that let natural sunlight in and gorgeous views inside and which also ensure a seamless indoor-outdoor transition. The south side is all-glass and fully open towards the lake. It welcomes the view inside and it frames it like a beautiful painting.
Despite the small overall dimensions of the cottage, the interior is surprisingly open, bright and spacious. This is possible thanks to the glass openings, the bright and neutral color palette used throughout but also the double-height ceiling. All these elements would make the spaces feel cold and austere if not for the warmth of the wood and the gable roof.
The roof extends slightly outward to cover a small porch which acts as a continuation of the interior living spaces. The roof also makes the open sleeping area on the second floor feel really cozy and welcoming.