GEORGIAN BAY RETREAT

The Georgian Bay retreat in Cedar Ridge, Ontario, fits into the trees. The aim is to intrude as little as possible on the landscape, inserting the house so that nature appears to have the upper hand. Bohlin deferred to the landscape by refraining from cutting the white birches and other trees that conceal the house in summer and that form a substantial border of trunks and branches through the winter, when the house's long, white front wall merges with the snow. "Wall" is not quite the right word. It's really a plane, floating free, as advocated by modernists such as Mies van der Rohe. This technique reduces a wall's apparent weight and decreases the building's boxiness. Reducing the walls to planes helps to break down their bulk and let the surrounding woods dominate the atmosphere all the more. Likewise, the simple slope of roof diminishes the magnitude of the roof and lets it float ever so lightly in its natural setting.

The house does arouse feelings, however. When people enter, they discover the dramatic use of exposed wood trusses, handsome details such as lines of black bolts holding the timbers together, and the beautiful effect of natural light coming in from above. The warm sheen of the wood that's employed throughout—in the post-and-beam construction, in the underside of the roof, in the flooring, and in the cabinetry—reinforces the woodland character and offers a sense of refuge from the cold. Exposed wood and articulated structure seem at home amid the trees.