Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

This Snow-White Cabin Disappears Into a Wintry Lakeside

This Snow-White Cabin Disappears Into a Wintry Lakeside

In a remote Canadian forest, a minimalist holiday home takes cues from its pristine lakeside surroundings.

When a lucky couple were selected in a government lottery to purchase land at Lake Poisson Blanc for approximately $70,000, they jumped at the opportunity-never mind that the remote site was a roughly three-hour drive from their home in Montreal.

Determined to realize their dream of a design-forward getaway, despite the remote location and a limited budget, the couple enlisted the help of Montreal-based Naturehumaine Architects to create a small yet stylish site-specific home for their family of four that embraces the beautiful landscape.



The clients’ one-acre property is located right on the edge of Lake Poisson Blanc, a large water reservoir. "It feels very quiet, isolated, and tranquil," says Rasselet of the remote area. "It’s an extraordinary place for kayaking and fishing."

"Since budget was a concern, we opted for a very compact scheme and decided to base it on a perfect square for the most efficient use of materials," says principal architect Stéphane Rasselet. "This compact concept also meant economical energy use for heating in harsh winters. In the end, we ended up with a pure and somewhat abstract white volume characterized by a series of vertical slits for windows and doors all blending harmoniously within an immaculate winter blanket of snow."



Designed and constructed over the course of two years, the three-bedroom holiday home is oriented to face the lake and slightly angled toward the south to optimize solar gain.



The Poisson Blanc home is topped with an economical white-painted steel roof and clad in standard white-painted pine.

To reduce costs and minimize landscape impact, the architects let the site’s steep terrain dictate the design of the 1,250-square-foot Poisson Blanc holiday home, which is embedded into the slope.



The property slopes approximately 25% from the main road to the lake.

The half-sunken lower level comprises two bedrooms for the clients’ children, a play room, a bathroom, a laundry room, and mechanical equipment. The master bedroom and main living spaces are located on the upper floor.



The walls and ceilings are painted white to match the exterior and the snowy landscape. The living room sofa is from Élément de Base, and the wood-burning stove is a Jøtul F 105.



"Visible from the living spaces, the crisscrossing structure of the roof echoes the name of the lake by recalling the skeleton of a fish-as does its immaculate color," say the architects. Poisson Blanc translates to White Fish.

The architects’ site-specific design and palette of simple and affordable materials successfully kept costs in check. The home was completed over the course of two years at a cost of around $200 per square foot.



The project’s only splurge was the installation of Shalwin tilt and turn aluminum windows, which cost twice as much as standard windows.

"The biggest challenge was finding a general contractor for such a remote area with the skills to build a house with non-standard features-such as floor-to-ceiling windows, and the alignments between different elements like the built-in furniture and Gyproc details," explains Rasselet.

"The distance was also a concern with respect to site visits, which we kept to a minimum due to budget. In the end, we were extremely happy with Mr. Thauvette and his team. They showed a very high level of professionalism and a love of work well executed.’



All of the integrated storage units and cabinetry are made of affordable maple veneer panels.



Simple furnishings match the minimalist design of the home. The eat-in kitchen includes an IKEA dining table and Structure chairs. The pendant lamps are from Luminaire Authentik.



The Caesarstone raw concrete kitchen countertop matches the gray Betontech floor tiles.



Gray Céragrès ceramic tiles line the bathroom.



"The result is an unusual, simple, and monochrome architecture exploring the purity of the square," note the architects.

"We love the extreme simplicity and purity of the house, and how it’s set delicately within its natural environment," adds Rasselet. "In the snowy winter, the house magically blends into the trees and becomes whole with the site."



Poisson Blanc floor plans

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×