La Croix From the Woods: A House Terraced Into Canadian Stone
La Croix unfolds along a Canadian mountainside, a house by Luc Plante architecture + design that tracks the slope with split levels and sweeping gables. The residence organizes daily life around an open living floor with a double-sided hearth and views toward the Eastern Townships. Clad in masonry and metal, it reads contemporary yet composed, with geometry tuned to light and the wooded site.
Evening light slides across galvanized gables and deep glazing. From the stone walks below, the rooflines read like folded planes, each bay catching sky and trees in turn.
This is a house in Canada by Luc Plante architecture + design, planned as a mountainside residence with two distinct entries and a terraced section. The throughline is geometric clarity: gables, triangles, and columns organize light, rooms, and views without fuss. It looks contemporary yet grounded by stone and timber notes.
Gables Shape Light
Inside the main level, tall gables carve the ceiling into crisp triangular coffers. Daylight pours through full-height glazing and a high triangular window above the kitchen, sending zenithal light across pale floors. The geometry directs sightlines outward to trees and horizon, while the pitch keeps the long room buoyant. At dusk, pin lights set into the facets read like a soft constellation.
Fireplace Sets Order
A double-sided hearth anchors the open plan and divides living from dining without closing either room. One face pairs with a slatted wood TV wall; the other turns toward a dining table ringed by glass. The element calibrates scale, giving the lounge a quiet center and the table an intimate edge. Heat and light travel through the core—one object, two moods.
Entries Follow Slope
A path traced by the terrain arrives first at an upper carport and front door. Another route slips through trees to a lower entry that meets the ground-floor rooms. The plan steps with the hillside, so circulation reads as a gentle descent from street to garden terrace. Outside, broad stone treads link patios, a small soaking pool, and a fire ring set among boulders.
Columns Meet Stone
Massive posts pin the upper levels while a masonry base holds the mountain side. Above, metal-clad gables and slim frames keep the volumes light, almost clerestory-like at the ridge. The envelope is symmetrical in elevation yet alive in section, where overhangs, balconies, and recesses tune shade and view. Materials stay restrained: stone, metal, glass, and warm wood lining entries and cabinets.
Everyday Rooms, Clear Lines
A galley kitchen runs between views, with paneled wood and soft-toned fronts around a professional range. Beyond, a terrace extends the main floor for breakfast sun and evening air. The entry hall folds in a built-in bench and vertical slats, a small moment of texture before the big room opens. Bedrooms stack below, close to the garden and the stone walks.
Light drifts through the trees and lifts the gables after sunset. From the lower path, masonry stays cool while the upper glazing glows. The house reads calm, its geometry doing the quiet work of structure, view, and everyday rhythm.
Photography by Annie Fafard
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