Around five years ago, architect Olivier Blouin built a house for his friend, a minimalist structure gracing a mountaintop. Later, after Blouin cofounded the Montréal studio Dupont Blouin with partner Marie-Josée Dupont, that same pal reached out again, this time asking the duo to overhaul his second residence on the hushed waters of Lac-Ouimet.

$5,039.30 Demolition	$19,437.30 Floor & Wall Tile	$33,835.30 Kitchen Cabinets
$10,078.60 New Roof Membrane	$79,189 Wood Panel Carpentry	$2,159.70 Crawlspace Moisture Protection
$8,998.75 General Conditions	$10,798.50 Wood Siding & Install	$1,439.80 Painting
$2,159.70 Drywall	$1,799.75 Kitchen Hardware	$10,798.50 Thermal & Moisture Protection
$10,798.50 Systems Labor	$16,557.70 Mechanical Systems	$9,502.68 Shower & Doors Hardware
$18,357.45 Appliances	$8,368.80 Countertops	$3,559.50 Three-Season Veranda
$50,393 Exterior Doors & Windows	$32,395.50 Electrical Systems & Lighting	$8,368.80 Site Oversight
$46,793.50 Furniture	$12,238.50 Gazebo & Exterior Kitchen	$46,793.50 Architectural Design Fees
Grand Total: $450,441.43

Minutes from Mont-Tremblant, the year-round ski resort in Québec’s Laurentian Mountains, it’s an idyllic spot for the client’s entrepreneurial family to savor get-togethers away from the city.

“The idea was to have a home that reunites the generations—the owner and his siblings, their kids, the patriarch—a place where they can all gather and cook food together by the lake,” explains Blouin.

Originally, the two-story residence was designed by Bedard, Charbonneau, Langlois, the architecture firm that dreamed up the artificial islands for Expo 67, the World’s Fair in Montréal. Blouin and Dupont were impressed by the previous architects’ work, the simplicity of the L-shaped layout, and the tight grid that made for “a pretty good canvas to work on,” says Blouin. In one wing, the living spaces face the lake; the other is reserved for the more private spaces that look onto the garden.

Although the design directive merely called for opening up the kitchen, remodeling the bathrooms, and changing the windows, Dupont Blouin couldn’t resist taking a more imaginative leap with a holistic approach to the renovation. Luckily, the client agreed the design was “so nice, I can’t take it out of my head,” and the more intricate, albeit costlier, plan was put into motion.

Shop the Look

When Blouin and Dupont first saw the 3,200-square-foot retreat, they were struck by how connected it felt to the 1960s, what with its groovy river rock wall, swathes of carpeting, and orange-hued wood. They didn’t want it to lose that allure. “We had to modernize, so we thought, ‘Let’s rejuvenate it by respecting what the other architects did and keeping materials that were used in the ’60s—but with a twist,’” explains Blouin.

So, they took a deep dive into midcentury design in North America, reading and discovering, for example, that wood walls were far more common than gypsum board. This detailed research led to such decisions as embracing custom birch panels, slate flooring, and white oak furniture, as well as sandblasting the vertical plank ceiling.

Even silvery carpeting was used sparingly in the bedrooms to soften the acoustics and add coziness, a low-key contrast to the bathrooms. A priority from the get-go, those were updated with a generous application of luminous Nero Marquina marble.

Once cramped and hidden from the living room, the kitchen, now brightened by a wall of floor-to-ceiling glazing, was the starting point for Dupont Blouin. It seamlessly flows into the dining area, the centerpiece of which is a large table, big enough for 16 people to share a feast, and the veranda just beyond.

At first glance, Blouin and Dupont weren’t too keen on the river rock surrounding the fireplace, a feature that often conjures a “noisy texture," but they kept the characteristic wall despite its “strong personality, because the smoothness, or the overall materiality of the house, gives a sense of balance to the living room without it being too busy,” says Blouin.

As a juxtaposition to the earthiness, beams and mullions were painted the color of charcoal, echoing the exterior’s darkened cedar cladding, which was sourced from a local mill.

Everything, points out Blouin, “fits together like a puzzle.”

More Budget Breakdown:

An Architect Couple Polish Up Their Tucson Bungalow for $42K

A DIY Extraordinaire Builds the Tiny Home of Her Dreams With $12K

A Steel-Clad Prefab Blends Into a Lush Forest for $665K

Project Credits:

Architecture and Design: Dupont Blouin / @dupontblouin

Lighting Design: Lumigroup

Cabinetry Design/Installation: Cuisines Steam