In Quebec, an Artfully Designed Home for an Art-Collecting Couple

A new home in Quebec, on the shores of Lake Memphremagog, has been designed with an eye toward one of the most ubiquitous and humble structures in any rural community: the barn. The home was designed by Atelier Échelle for a couple with a large art collection, and so the high-roofed, long-sided shape of a barn made it possible for them to display their collection in the new residence.

The barn as an architectural form has a long history. In Quebec, individual barns were gradually replaced in the late 18th century by longer, connected structures to make it easier to house larger herds and for farmers to move more comfortably between rooms in the brutally cold winters. The area around Lake Memphremagog has a strong farming history, especially on the eastern side of the lake. While not a renovation of an existing barn, or a replica of the “long-barn” style, the new home echoes their spirit by retaining the customary steeply pitched roofs and gable ends.

The home is split into four sections, almost “mini-barns,” stacked in order one by one from the lakeside, forming a sort of accordion when viewed from above, to allow the front of the structure to take full advantage of the sunsets over Lake Memphremagog, which spans the international border with neighbouring Vermont. Of the four sections, the one closest to the lake is the “summer home,” a terrace space with an outdoor kitchen and heated pool. One back is the “winter home” with the kitchen, dining room, lounge, and piano bar for when the nights draw in, followed by the “living quarter” containing the master suite, office, wine cellar, pantry, and powder room, and finally the “guest quarter” with five bedrooms.

Whereas the farmers of yesteryear connected their disparate buildings with a long roof, Atelier Échelle has linked the four sections of the home with glass bridges and consistent material choices. The exterior walls are clad in clay bricks from Denmark, while the pitched roofs feature shingles created in a local workshop. Clerestory windows allow natural light to flood into the home.

Clearly, a large consideration for the architects was the owner’s art collection, and numerous features of the house have been designed with this in mind. As well as ample room for their own collection to be shown on the walls, the entranceway opens into an art gallery space, and the powder room’s walls are adorned with a mural by artist Simon Hughes representing the four seasons.

Atelier Échelle has designed a modern home by looking to the past, and in doing so has created a long-lasting tribute to the region’s architecture that will stand for years to come.

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