House on the Lake: Contemporary Barn Living
House on the Lake sits on the west banks of Lake Memphremagog in Magog, Canada, where Atelier Échelle pairs contemporary rigor with rural memory. The house translates the archetypal Quebec barn into a six-bedroom lakefront residence for an art-collecting couple. Four related volumes create distinct realms for summer, winter, living, and guests, turning the waterfront site into a seasonal sequence of terraces, galleries, and intimate rooms for family and friends.
Low western light slides across brick and cedar as the house steps toward Lake Memphremagog. Glass bridges hover between dark roofs, catching reflections of water and sky. Inside, long views pull the eye through art-lined galleries to the horizon.
House on the Lake is a contemporary six-bedroom house in Magog, Canada, designed by Atelier Échelle for an art-collecting couple. The project recasts the familiar rural barn volume into four distinct yet related forms organized for summer, winter, living, and guests. Daily life unfolds as a sequence of programs calibrated to seasons: terrace, indoor winter home, private living quarter, and guest quarter.
Each volume is scaled to its purpose and connected by transparent links that keep the lake in view from almost every room. Structural spans in reinforced concrete and steel open broad glass walls to the water, while clerestory windows wash interiors with daylight.
Barn Forms Along The Shore
Four barn-like volumes step back from the shoreline, repeating the same basic profile with different internal programs. Closest to the water, the outdoor summer home stretches as a 100-feet-long terrace with an exterior kitchen, al fresco dining, a fireside lounge, and a heated pool. Just inland, the indoor winter home gathers kitchen, dining, lounge, and piano bar into one open plan that faces the lake through broad glazing. Farther back, the living quarter brings together the primary suite, office, wine cellar, pantry, and powder room, while the guest quarter at the rear contains five bedrooms and a children’s lounge.
Glass bridges stitch the ensemble together and read as light connectors between the heavier brick volumes. They sit slightly above the ground, so moving from wing to wing feels like walking in a transparent corridor suspended over the landscape. Every crossing becomes a moment to shift from family routines to hosting guests, or from quiet work to lakefront leisure.
Lake Views And Daily Rituals
The plan is oriented to catch sunsets over the water, so evening gatherings naturally gravitate toward the terrace and pool. Floor-to-ceiling glass along the exterior walls frames the lake as a changing backdrop that tracks weather and seasons. A structural system supports motorized glass panels spanning more than 50 feet, creating an uninterrupted panorama across the main rooms. The 11-foot-tall wood entry door opens directly into an art gallery and aligns the first glimpse of water with curated works.
Inside the open kitchen, fully glazed windows replace traditional upper cabinets, keeping the horizon line continuous above counters. Cooking, dining, and lounging share this long view, which anchors everyday routines to the lake beyond. The house becomes a setting for large family gatherings and more intimate evenings, with art and scenery sharing equal presence.
Materials That Mark Time
Reinforced concrete, steel framing, and brick infill create a robust shell suited to the climate and the long lakeside exposure. Exterior walls use dark-toned, water-struck clay bricks from Denmark, their irregular surface ready to take on patina as years pass. Oversized roof shingles are custom-fabricated in a local workshop, giving the roof planes a scaled texture that reads clearly from the water. Stonework at the terrace, garden, exterior kitchen, and fireplace brings together locally sourced black and gray Cambrian granite.
Inside, the kitchen island is carved from a single rough stone block with a charred, live-edge walnut slab resting on top for bar-height dining. Natural materials remain visibly worked rather than polished smooth, so hand, tool, and weather leave legible traces over time. The result supports a daily rhythm in which cooking, gathering, and swimming all brush against durable, tactile surfaces.
Art, Rooms, And Atmosphere
Art is built into the house rather than added after the fact. The powder room carries a mural by Simon Hughes on every wall, representing the four seasons in a wraparound composition. A bronze vanity stands as a column at the center, clearing wall area so the mural can remain continuous. At the pool, another work by the same artist uses tile to suggest floating icebergs in deliberate contrast to the warm water.
The wine cellar holds more than 1,200 bottles and favors the distinctive silhouette of Bourgogne bottles. A micro-fluted glass-and-bronze door opens to white oak millwork set between a gravel floor and a bronze ceiling. Recessed lighting and bronze mirrors layer warm reflections, turning a practical collection into an atmospheric room. Nearby, the billiards room wraps players in deep blue corduroy drapery and walnut millwork, with the black felt of the table echoed by lighting held on black nylon straps.
Light softens as it moves from terrace to galleries to inner rooms, always returning attention to the lake at the edge of the property. From morning swims to late-night billiards, each program finds its own volume while staying connected through shared views. House on the Lake holds together daily routines, seasonal shifts, and artful moments in one measured sequence along the water.
Photography by Maxime Brouillet
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