River House in The Globe and Mail 2006
River House in Globe and Mail Real Estate Section
A beautiful synthesis of home and nature
John Bentley Mays—Some things that make Southern Ontario’s countryside beautiful also make many a rural spot a trial to build a house on. I am thinking of the numerous rivers and the countless tiny streams that flow across the rolling landscape, steep water-sculpted slopes and the marshes nestled between tall shoulders of hill.
One common and quite acceptable architectural response to the country’s clefts and rills, of course, is to build above it all, straight out from the crest of the hill, creating a cantilevered overlook above the treetops with impressive views of what’s all around and below. Another approach—more difficult, but potentially just as rewarding to the artistic eye—is to go deep into the green, dealing with the poor soils and high water tables of the bottomlands in order to achieve a pleasing sense of immersion in nature.
I recently came across an example of this latter line of attack that promises to bear exceptionally fine architectural fruit. The imaginative designers of the project are Adam Thom and Katja Aga Sachse Thom, partners in both life and business. Last week, I visited their client’s building site, an irregular swatch of land on a rural edge of Brampton.