This Canadian Log House Renovation is a Modern Masterpiece

Modern Design Meets Natural Beauty

This Red cedar and fir timber frame Canadian lakeside log house is cutting edge from the ground up. The superb red-cedar-and-timber-framed log house renovation overlooks scenic Lac Manitou in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec. Light penetrates the cabin building through the abundance of glass walls, which lends to its airy, light and modern design. The log house also has natural stone walls that surround it and perfectly tie it to its natural landscape.

From Neglect to Masterpiece

The rustic log house was bought in 2005 by Mike and Marcia with the neglected pinewood-plank wood cabin on the property dating back to 1970, and at that time the cabin building showed its age. The couple left the rustic wood cabin as is for 11 years before they embarked on a major renovation. The architect who designed and oversaw project was Andre Ibghy of Ibghy Architect Inc., a local Montreal firm, and a friend of the couple. From the initial meeting, the architect t understood and translated exactly what the couple desired in a log house design. The wood cabin is organized around a grand central room where each space to include the kitchen, living and dining is connected, yet still separate. The architect also took full advantage of the building site's natural topography. Nearly all of the rooms are oriented toward the spectacular view offered by the lake and surrounding mountains. Features such as the floor-to-ceiling windows accentuate the feeling of being part of the natural exterior landscape so that they can enjoy every season from the comfort of indoors.

The Advantages of Western Red Cedar

When it comes to wood cabins and log home designs, Western Red Cedar is a popular choice of wood to use. There are several benefits to building with Western Red Cedar, and its unsurpassed natural beauty is just one reason. People have been using Western Red Cedar for hundreds, and it's no wonder with its proven performance. It is a wood that is environmentally friendly, naturally resistant to both decay and insects. Western Red Cedar used in wood cabins and log house designs accepts a wide variety of finishes. And the best part about building with wood is that it comes from renewable resources. Western Red Cedar is both pitch and resin-free, which means that this wood can hold a variety of finishes to include semi-transparent stains, shabby chic bleaches, traditional solid colors, naturally beautiful semi-transparent and elegant dark stains.

A Tradition of Durability and Performance

Western Red Cedar is a log house building material that has a long history of proven performance. For centuries, Western Red Cedar is a wood that has long been celebrated by the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations as the Tree of Life, and it has been used to help build longhouses, totem poles and canoes. Hundreds of years later and western red cedar continues to be a preferred building material for wood cabins, cabin building and log house designs. Western Red Cedar is naturally durable. Western red cedar has a reputation for being a naturally durable wood which makes it perfect for all outdoor projects. The wood is lightweight and is valued for its high natural resistance and decay properties. Western Red Cedar is also less susceptible to moisture, insect damage and fungi growth. Western Red Cedar in log home designs is also water damage resistant and can successfully weather long periods of heavy rain and other extreme weather conditions to include snow, hail and strong winds. Western Red Cedar has twice the stability of other popular conifers. Red cedar maintains it's original dimensions when the wood is subjected to weather fluctuations and can resist twisting, cupping and warping.