{"id":866293,"date":"2026-08-21T14:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T14:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/866293\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T14:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T14:38:09","slug":"with-a-zinc-roof-cathedral-ceilings-and-stone-hearth-this-family-cottage-is-built-for-awe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/866293\/","title":{"rendered":"With a zinc roof, cathedral ceilings and stone hearth, this family cottage is built for awe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The three-level cottage by architect Barbora Vokac Taylor has amenities such as a gym, a sauna, a hot tub, a chef-worthy kitchen and a movie room.Supplied<\/p>\n

When Norm Chang was thinking about designing a new cottage, he had two specific requests for his architect, Barbora Vokac Taylor. He wanted a double-height space, something that wasn\u2019t possible when Ms. Vokac Taylor previously renovated his downtown Toronto home (\u201cthe floor plate was too tight,\u201d she says).<\/p>\n

He also wanted a zinc roof, a hardy material that can last a long time \u2013 sometimes 100 years or more \u2013 long enough to pass the cottage down to the next generation. Chang has two children under 10, son, Theo, and daughter, Alex.<\/p>\n

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A roof made of zinc can last a century or more.Supplied<\/p>\n

Inheriting a cottage isn\u2019t a privilege Mr. Chang grew up with (his parents didn\u2019t have one). His wife, Rana, spent her childhood summers at her grandfather\u2019s cottage, a farmhouse in what is now war-torn Ukraine. \u201cIt was a simple place, but Rana has many happy memories there,\u201d says Mr. Chang.<\/p>\n

The couple decided to create their own cottage traditions during the pandemic. To get out of Toronto\u2019s lockdowns, they rented a retreat north of the city. \u201cWe quickly figured out we needed a place for ourselves,\u201d says Mr. Chang, a finance executive. \u201cOur plan was to find the right piece of land and then build what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The couple bought a lakeside lot near Huntsville, Ont., a quaint town in the heart of cottage country. Amid maple trees and by the water\u2019s shore, there was already a 600-square-foot cabin. \u201cWe call it the bunkie,\u201d says Mr. Chang. \u201cWe had good times there, cramming everyone in \u2013 at most, 11 people. But after about three years, when we got to know the property better, got to know the neighbours and the lake, it was time for a bigger place.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Norm Chang and his wife, Rana, bought a lot near Huntsville, Ont., to construct a family cottage.Supplied<\/p>\n

Bigger is the operative word. Near the original bunkie, which the family still uses for guests, Mr. Chang constructed a cottage more than 10 times as large. The three-level structure has all the amenities needed for someone to get lost luxuriously in the woods and not be found for quite a while: A gym, a sauna, a hot tub, a chef-worthy kitchen and a movie room.<\/p>\n

For the architecture, Ms. Vokac Taylor originally started drawing a bar-shaped building with a pitched roof \u2013 something akin to many contemporary cottages. To better follow the contours of the site, which drops dramatically from the road down to the water, she ended up bending the conventional bar into an unusual boomerang that wraps around the hillside. A black zinc roof accentuates the angled lines of the structure and matches the wall cladding, which is Japanese shou sugi ban \u2013 charred cedar that is insect- and rot-resistant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wonderful thing with a client like Norm is that he\u2019s really up for the awe,\u201d she says. \u201cIf he\u2019s building something, he wants it to be special.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Clerestory windows add even more natural light to the cottage.Supplied<\/p>\n

On arrival, guests typically can tell the house is different. Because of the sloped terrain, the entry is on the top level \u2013 a floor with three guest suites, a study and a mud room for storing coats. From there, a mezzanine looks out to the first of two double-height spaces, a great room accessed by a long, grand staircase. As people descend, the cathedral ceiling overhead washes in ever more light, sun that cracks through a series of exposed roof rafters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI originally wanted skylights,\u201d says Mr. Chang. \u201cBut the area we are in routinely gets so much snow that skylights often crack or leak.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead,\u201d adds Ms. Vokac Taylor, \u201cwe popped the ceiling up and added clerestory windows, which are basically like skylights on a wall. The windows are operable, which helps the lake breezes naturally ventilate the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chang says they spend most of the time in the kitchen.Supplied<\/p>\n

The great room has a sitting space and a soaring stone hearth. But it\u2019s the adjacent kitchen where \u201cwe spend most of our time,\u201d says Chang. \u201cWe often have guests and everyone cooks together. It\u2019s a great experience.\u201d (It helps that the space is lined with glass framing postcard views of the lake.)<\/p>\n

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The primary suite is tucked behind the kitchen, and a lower level has the movie room, sauna and whirlpool. But Mr. Chang\u2019s personal favourite space is the second double-height area \u2013 a screened-in porch located at the bend in the house, accessed through a door off the great room. (The great room\u2019s fireplace is double-sided, with one half facing the porch.)<\/p>\n

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The stone hearth in the great room sits above a double-sided fireplace.Supplied<\/p>\n

The screened-in porch is lined in reddish-brown, cedar planks that poke in and out as they climb the walls. Lights are intermittently hidden behind the boards, casting a romantic glow when it\u2019s dark outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with an artist named Victoria Fard on the pattern of the lights,\u201d says Ms. Vokac Taylor. \u201cThe installation was done by carpenters called Cutting Bros. They are truly talented artisans who could carve a pineapple out of a solid piece of wood. They placed the lights carefully so there is never glare in someone\u2019s eye line.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Mr. Chang, \u201cthe space turned out better than I could have imagined,\u201d he says. \u201cThe atmosphere is incredible. It\u2019s such a nice place to sit with my friends, Rana and the kids. The odd time I\u2019m alone, though, it\u2019s also a really awesome place to relax, have a nap.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The three-level cottage by architect Barbora Vokac Taylor has amenities such as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75,2922,968,233191],"class_list":["post-866293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-noastack","tag-real-estate","tag-the-listing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}