Perched on a 90-acre parcel of rolling meadow in Toronto north-west, the House in Caledon is a quiet dwelling for a family of four that preserves a meaningful connection with its landscape and with its historic farmhouse and barn.
Architects: Ian MacDonald Architect
Location: Caledon, Ontario, Canada
Photographs: Tom Arban
© Tom Arban
© Tom Arban
A watercourse uses rainwater collected from the roofs of the new house and the original barn. Water flows alongside the house into the meadow and through a series of brooks and ponds to the barn.
© Tom Arban
© Tom Arban
Two light monitors on the roof pull south light right into its house centre, meanwhile as a temperature regulator.
© Tom Arban
© Tom Arban
© Tom Arban
© Tom Arban
Inspiration from architect:
The “obvious” location for the house might have been a hill overlooking the landscape, but the visual presentation from this site would have been overwhelmed by the road and by neighbouring houses. Instead, we built the house into a hill, hugging the land and insulated against Ontario’s heat, wind and snow. Thereby, we have screened out views of the road, exposing instead a meadow that gently rolls towards the existing farm buildings and the landscape beyond.
