Recently, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Cooke House in Virginia Beach went up for sale for a little under three million dollars. One of Wright’s final designs, the beach house is beautiful, airy, and warm, a perfect example of why Wright was considered the greatest architect of the 21st century.
Unfortunately, the odds of getting to live in a Frank Lloyd Wright creation in Canada are pretty long. The only Wright-designed building still standing in Canada is the E.H. Pitkin Lodge. However, Wright has influenced the designers of plenty of cottages and cabins around Ontario, including Roger D’Astous, the architect of a lakeside cabin now up for sale in the Laurentians. D’Astous was a student of Wright’s, and he put his teacher’s style into this serene, open-feeling home perched above Lac Masson. At 4.8 million dollars, this home is just as expensive as a Frank Lloyd Wright design—and it’s just as much of a dream home. Take a look at the gallery to indulge in a little architectural fantasy.
The cottage was built in 1960, and its aesthetic reflects the ideals of modernist architecture of the time. Its layout is very open, and there are lots of floor-to-ceiling windows angled to give a beautiful view of the lake below.
The decks outside the cottage are on many levels, creating a gradual sense of elevation. As Frank Lloyd Wright said, "No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it."
In keeping with Wright's style, D'Astous used simple, straight lines, using wide beams to hold up the jutting awning above the glass-walled living room. A few trees offer some natural shade.
The beams extend all the way indoors, running the length of this huge open-concept living/dining room. The large, angled stone fireplace keeps the space from feeling too boxy.
This dream bedroom is filled with natural light, and leads out onto a patio. We can't imagine a better place to wake up.
D'astous has extended the themes of light and space into the bathroom, which feels huge and yet warm, thanks to the natural wood beams and stone wall. The curbless shower is a nice touch, echoing the large windows of the house's front room.
This huge kitchen island serves many purposes, from a food-preparation surface to a kitchen table. No walls separate the kitchen from the living room, but the beams and the kitchen island maintain a sense of structure.
Pools and ponds are enticingly placed, leading toward the water of Lac Masson. Architect D'Astous also kept the landscaping natural looking, incorporating the site's existing rocks and plants into his design.
