When you finish a tough week at the office, all you’re looking forward to is a relaxing weekend of peace and quiet, perhaps punctuated by a few home-cooked meals and a good bottle of wine. This is exactly what The Apple Tree Hosue offers, located in the forested rural area of St-Donat near Montreal, Quebec, as the low-rise modernist residence designed by the team at ACDF Architecture.
Situated on a 250,000-square-foot plot of forested land, the home is the perfect antidote to the relentless pace of city living, thanks to its floor-to-ceiling glass walls and an interior courtyard that invites the natural surroundings of the property inside. Its visual impact is unquestionable, cutting a stark all-black figure that contrasts the dense boreal forests of coniferous and hardwood trees that call this part of Canada home.
Once inside, it quickly becomes apparent how The Apple Tree House in Quebec earned its name, with the glass-walled internal courtyard home to an apple tree that was planted as a reminder to the owner of their childhood. Having grown up in an orchard, the client who commissioned The Apple Tree House wanted a central and constant reminder of their first interactions with the natural world in their youth.
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“The nostalgia of the orchard setting provoked a sincere and pure emotion, and we immediately knew that we had to incorporate an apple tree at the heart of the project in order to sow the seeds of the family’s future history,” explained Maxime-Alexis Frappier, partner and co-founder of ACDF. “It became a central pillar for connecting the architecture, the house, and the family.”
Surrounding the apple tree courtyard, the rest of the home is an exercise in restrained flair, with every detail considered. The polished concrete floors contrast the blonde timber panelled ceilings (an element that also improves the acoustics of the home), while the open plan living and dining areas are light-filled with lines of sight through the home thanks to the glass walls.
With two children’s bedrooms and a master suite for the owners of the home, it’s a residence that could have been a sprawling estate hidden in the forest but instead has remained modest, in an effort to do more with less. As an image of cool-climate tranquility, it doesn’t get much better than this.
