Maison du Boisé was designed by Gestion René Desjardins for a family with three young children and possibly a fourth in rural Quebec, Canada. Once they had chosen a wooded site, the mandate was to create a house that would specifically address the children’s well-being. From there, the mother was interested in colour and the father wanted a design that would last “indefinitely”. As for the style, they agreed it would be modern but “not minimalist”.

Highly refined, they are the antithesis of popular notions of a family home, excessively “cosy,” overburdened with colours and objects. Then one begins to perceive the sensitivity of the approach taken. « What does a child need to feel at home? Freedom of movement, achieved through ample spaces, fluid circulation for joyful fun of all kinds, and the removal of barriers between public areas and family spaces.

Despite the minimally furnished rooms, a monochromatic bias and the Sucupira floors throughout the house, the decor comes across as anything but minimalist due to accents borrowed from classical architecture. Reinterpreted from a modern perspective, the coffered ceilings, theatrical openings in the passages and wide matt-white mouldings running along the base of the silk-grey walls combine to create a sense of elegance and harmony, but, surprisingly they bring comfort, too.

Here and there, furtive splashes of colour add an indispensable touch of dissonance, much like grace notes in an overly serious score. Paintings strike some major chords. “There is something naive about them that I thought the children could relate to,” explains Desjardins, a staunch advocate of art in design: “a touch of dreams and poetry.”

Photos: André Doyon