The Five Cove House by RHAD Architects is located on a Nova Scotia island, connected by a causeway. Designed in 2022, the 1,560-square-foot home, surrounded by five coves, replicates the under-stated typical seaside shed that has been split, pulled, flipped, and extended to create courtyards. The one-storey house was subdivided to present a main dwelling area with a kitchen, living, and dining space, as well as a guest suit, forming a “cottage within a cottage” for added seclusion.
RHAD Architects designed the Five Cove House on Nova Scotia’s south shore to evoke the region’s vernacular shed-style homes, which the studio says are often considered haunted. According to the architects, many “outbuildings” on the rural island — where the land use primarily features fishing and farming — have been abandoned for “various reasons, including losing fishing rights and lack of upkeep.”
RHAD Architects channels local style of Nova Scotia
Visitors approaching from Ottawa, where RHAD Architects is based, may see signs warning “haunted building” — a solution for families with children anxious about the empty structures, the studio said. This is the same essence that RHAD Architects hoped to channel for the family retreat project, adapting the perceived imagery of a run-down rustic beach house for modern use.
The simple shed roof, originally slanted to make emptying snow easier, was flipped and extended to form the split-level home and deck. The skinny volume is topped with dark green slats that form a simple rain screen across the facade. It also has a slight porch overhang for shade from the harsh winter weather.
Five Cove House slightly lifted above rocky landscape
The house is slightly lifted above the rocky landscape on strip and pier foundations. The entrance was wrapped with an intricate wooden fence and tunnel so that those approaching must walk through the structure to enter instead of a traditional path.
The interior required minimal maintenance, as the previously stripped building was left “undisturbed,” surrounding new, modern furniture with a pebbled concrete floor and exposed steel trusses supporting the roof.
The floorplan consists of a large, open-concept kitchen, living, and dining room.
The guests occupy an “urban cottage” on the other side, separated by a lengthy, narrow hallway. “Steel trusses in the open living, dining, and kitchen area are exposed, expressing the structure,” RHAD Architects said. The vaulted space, which takes up over half the house, “is wrapped in shiplap, painted white for a distinct, simple cottage feel”.
Dark green kitchen cabinets were built into the end wall — which mimics the backyard at the front of the house. A bathroom and two bedrooms sit along the opposing wall by the entrance. The end wall next to the dining area matches the wooden slat rain screen on the home in terms of colour, but incorporates salvaged barn boards — “remnants from a previous project” — for increased warmth.
A small fireplace sits to the side of the living room sofa, with a wooden chair and soft chaise. One wall holds floor-to-ceiling windows and doors that open to the east deck and overlook the Atlantic Ocean.
Ample seating was placed on each deck to watch the sunrise and sunset. A pergola cast shadows on sunny days, or raining and snow provided warmth, and on chilly days, the western courtyards protected the inner home from harsh winds.
Photography courtesy of RHAD Architects
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