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hen Jean and David Dav sat down

to dream up a wish lisl lbr thc new cottage they wantecl built, rlne thing was parantount."We wanted a house that our grandchildren would llnd idyllic," rccalls Jcan. "so thalthey'd have summers that would be untbrgettable."

It wasn't as if the Days had never provided that kind ol rctreat: thcir cottage alThunder Beach on Georgian Bay, near Lafontaine. Ont., had long been a lamily gath-

ering place. Certainly the curve of sandy bay, with quaint cottages side by sidc. hadbeen ideal in many ways. But even with a major renovzrticln in l9fi8. the homc coulclno longer accommodate their expanding clan of eight children zrnd l'ive grandchildren.

One day early in the summer of 1995, to escape the closc quarters, Jean wcnl

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Far reft: The kitchen's hanging shelfsimplifies chores. Maple cabinetry asdesigned with Shaker simplicity,fop centretThe cupboard behind lean, withEdward, is from Marcelyille, a local shop.Lelt Expansive windows bring views of thewoodland indoors, Birdfeede?s hangthroughout the grounds, including a spotiust outside the kitchen windows - perfecttor impromptu s:ghtings,Above:ln the lee of the house, wellprotected from tre elements, screenedporches safely house antiques. The Daysfound this rare old wicker swing and thechair at Marcelville.

walking with her daughter-in-law. Fifieen minutes l 'rom ThunderBcach they came upon an arca with its own vcry dil lbrent charms.Thcre. on a woodcd sideroad. Jean fell in love with the peace, the bird-song, the trees. Knowing that her next-door ncighbour was keen tobuy thc Day cottage, Jean returned a couple of days later to look atvacant lots with her husband and a rcal estate agent. Shc was takenwith thc very first onc she saw. "lt was impulsive," she says, "but wejust 1'elt that this was it." It was wild and woodsy, with a widc escarp-ment eurd its own 350-foot-long sccluded beach bclow.

Jcan and David, a lawycr. went instantly into actitrn. negotiatingwith their ncighbour to scll their old homc. and securing John Hix. arenowned Toronto architect. to design their new hon.re. Hix. whotaught at Cambridge University l l 'orn 1968 to 1972. and is theauthor of the lavish 1996 book Tlte Glosshouse, is known lbr desisn-ing buildings that are highly attuned to nature and conservaticln.

Jean first came across his work in a magazine l2 ycars ago. "There

was an informality and a simplicity about the country homes he did.I was absolutely taken with them." The Days hircd Hix to renovatethe Thunder Beach cottage in 19t38. and were thrilled with the results.

They wanted the same clarity of vision lbr the new cottage. A few

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SEESOURCEGUIDE CANADTAN HOUSE & HOME 93

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short weeks atler Jean f irst saw the propcrty, a design was in placc, and Stone Trcc

Construction. a local builder with an outstanding reputatittn, was rcady tit go. By May

1996, the Days movcd in. John Hix attributes the spced ol' thc projcct to the trust bc-

tween his clicnts and himself. "l kncw them. And thcy knew me. and they trustcd me."

His approach adclcd to that trust. While Hix paid carclll attentitln to the Days'prac-tical requirerrents - vicws l'rom every room, tireplaccs, screened porches - he was

also interested in son.rcthing nrore elusive. "A wish list is not just thc rooms that you

think you want, it 's also thc spirit of what the house is all about," he says. "ln this

case thc spirit of the house is in the coming together of various generations."That spirit is embodied in the long, relatively narrow house that the Days aptly named

"Longhouse." It's a tribute to traditional Iroquois dwellings wherc related families

lived together, and also an homage to the building's length: 144 feet - the equiva-lent of about five average-sized city homes side by side. The spirit is also embodiedin the antiques that fill Longhouse, including many family pieces. They lend a sense ofpermanence and continuity. Much of the furniture helps foster Jean's own childhoodmemories of weekends at her parents' farm in Montebello, Que., and yearly visits to

her grandfather's summer house at St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, N.B. Longhouse - de-

spite its modern interior - reminds her of both, with its barn-like gambrel roof and

its cedar-shingled exterior. While the fusion of modern and antique might seem tobe at odds, a spare, Shaker aesthetic, both inside and out. pulls the two together.

Since many of the Days' children live far away, their visits are often long. "That means

they need space," says Jean. "We wanted a place where we could all be togetherwith a tremendous amount of comfort and the opportunity to be outside with nature."

To offer space and comfort, the house needed private quarters for couples with chil-

dren. At first, Jean and David wanted a separate apartment for the young families over

the garage. But Hix came back with a far better proposal: Continued on page 142

SEE SOT'RCE GUII'E CANADTAN HOUSE & HOME 95

T H E I O N G W A Y H O M E

Continued from page 95

an apartment right in the house that would bepart of the structure. From that sprang thebasicconcepf Longhouse is built almost as twodwellings, one at either end of the house, joined

by alarge entry hall with a cathedral ceiling andcentral staircase. Two enormous screenedporches run the east length of the house andprovide a spot for everyone to convene. Thehome's key components echo back to the Days'previous cottage - what worked best in theoriginal place was preserved and improved.

With vast amounts of space at Longhouse,new elements became possible too. From thehuge entry hall, a staircase leads up to the separate apartment - a space that's a real homeaway from home. It has two bedrooms withbeds and cribs, a large living room/playroomfilled with toys, a kitchenette and two bath-rooms. On the ground floor below, guests withless need for quiet and privacy stay in two morecentral bedrooms, which adjoin a den with fire-place, bathroom, sauna and one ofthe screenedporches. On the other side of the front entryhall, a great room melds the main living room,dining room and kitchen, creating a spaciouscentral meeting place. Jean and David's quar-ters - a bedroom, office, loft, bathroom andpatio - are located beyond the great room.

While the benefits of privacy are obvious, theseparate nature of the two "houses" offersother advantages: each has its own high-efficiency furnace and water heater. Since Jeanand David often stay at Longhouse alone, thedual system cuts heating msts dramatically. Thethree fireplaces are also energy efficient, withglass doors and fans that pump the heat intoother parts of the house. And the building andits windows are well insulated.

Practicalities aside, the magic of l.onghouse'sdesign lies in the way it brings the woodlandindoors. Even on the hottest days, cross-breezesbreathe through every room. ln the moming, thesun comes up over the hills along the east lengthof the house, and, at night,luminous sunsets slantin the west windows and through the house tothe screened porches on the other side.

It seems fitting that natural finishes abound:aflagstone floorin the entry hall, maple kitchencabinetry, wide-plank pine floors and cedarshingles outside. All allow for gentle aging. "It's

going to be fun because it will all change withage," says Jean. "The house will grow with us."For some time, too, no doubt: literally andfiguratively, Longhouse is built on rock. tlEtr

142 cANADIAN HousE & HoME

W H A T ' S S E X Y N O W !

Continued from page9

was 10 years ago, and the stones are still there.I like my indoor "beach" too much to go the tileroute now. The hearth also includes a chunk of

the Berlin Wall, covered in graffiti, mixed in the

stones - a surprise, and a piece of history, too.A sexy room is one that beckons us to be our-

selves. It asks us to take off our shoes, feel thecoolness ofthe fabric, the burl ofthe carpet, theundulation of the handmade tile, the luxuriousgive of the pillow. It doesn't just point us towardthe bed - it also invites us to read. or cook, orwatch the birds at the feeder. It keeps anxiety-makers, the fax and the phone, behind a paint-

ed screen, and the TV shuttered in an antiquearmoire. It isn't afraid of using silver lam6 in thekitchen or pinstripes on the bed. It uses designelements to put people at ease, rather than tomake a statement.

But keep in mind Last Tango In Paris, whereBertolucci's idea of sexy decor was ... no decorat all. Just an empty apartmentwith a geatviewwhere Marlon Brando, not yet fat, meets upwith Maria Schneider for a passionate affair. No

resin coffee tables. No balloon drapes, and cer-tainly no ruffled bedskirts. All they needed was

the wall, and the floor. Most of us like a little

more history - and furniture - than that. Butmystery wears well, in people and in rooms. Mf,l

c o l o u R t E s s o NContinued from page 24

enrcurages people to extract acolourfrom theirfabrics, wallpaper or accessories. "Trim is agreat opportunity to include the colours you

love, but have had to forgo for the sake ofwhitewalls," she says. The Victorians would have

agreed. At the end of the last century, trim was

never painted white. Rather, it was painted to

resemble fine woods or marble, or its hue was

selected from the richly coloured wallpapershung in the house. The darkest colour in the pat-

tem (even black!) was often the choice for trim.Today, you can add height to a room by

extending the wall colour up over the cornicetrim to the ceiling; to widen a room, bring the

ceiling colour down over the cornice trim. To

enlarge a small room, use a darkened or light-ened venion (whichever you prefer) of the wallcolour so the space doesn't seem too busy.

Ifyour house doesn't boast wide baseboardsand detailed cornices, think camouflage-trypainting the trim the same colour as the walls

to shift focus to the objects in your room. EEtr