Ottawa, ON · 2023 – 2025
Kira & Matt
The "Fairytale" Residence
The story
What they wanted
"A home that doesn't feel like a house. Somewhere our kids can grow up that still works when it's just the two of us again."
The design problem
Steeply sloped lakefront site, mature trees nobody wanted to lose, and a brief that pulled in two directions — family-loud and adult-quiet. Standard suburban-house logic wouldn't survive the slope or the program.
How we solved it
A linear plan stepping down the slope, with a cantilevered screen porch that floats over the grade change. Public rooms drift toward the lake; private wings step back into the trees. One roofline, two parallel lives.
6,400
Square feet
12mo
Design to permit
28mo
Total project
0
Trees removed
Project facts
Location Ottawa, ON
Year 2023 – 2025
Value $8.0M CAD
Area 6,400 sf · 595 m²
Scope Full Design · Documentation · CA
Role Prime Consultant
Builder Amsted Design-Build
Photography Doublespace
Structural Read Jones Christoffersen
Mechanical AECOM
Landscape NAK Design Strategies
From the client · 38s
"Spencer listened. He didn't pitch us a building — he showed us how our family actually moves through a day, and then drew a house around it."
Kira & Matt Dodge
Homeowners