2023 Best of Year Winner for Small Country House

Located near Georgian Bay in a rocky landscape that has inspired many Canadian painters, this two-level, 2,200-square-foot retreat in Lake Rosseau, Muskoka, is deliberately simple—a pitched roof above an upper-level great room with bedrooms below—so as not to compete with the natural setting. The ruggedness outside is reflected in Studio Paolo Ferrari‘s extensive use of granite inside for carved sinks in a bathroom, the double-sided fireplace in the living area, and a large unfinished block that serves as the kitchen island. The other dominant interior material is Douglas fir, either whitewashed or limed, which covers the ceilings, walls, and floors. The Toronto-based studio also uses the blond timber for all the custom millwork and built-in furniture, including the principal bed—a stack of chunky slabs that combines the headboard, nightstands, and mattress platform into a single sculptural unit.

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