Lori Hudson has probably painted Christina Lake a hundred times. “My kids tease me that it’s the only thing I ever paint,” she says.

It’s true that there’s not much that could top the view from her easel, positioned for maximum waterfront exposure where two tall windows meet at the back of her family cabin. But should Lori ever feel compelled to move her canvas out to the patio, she’d find an equally worthy subject in the house itself.

Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) with Canadian firm Miller Mottola Calabro serving as architect of record, the wedge-shaped cabin seems to defy gravity as it cantilevers out from its rocky site. “There’s a feeling of floating in the trees above the surface of the lake,” says KylePhillips, project manager at BCJ.

The ground floor holds the common areas, while the second story contains a bath and two bedrooms. A ladder leads to a third bedroom on the top level. From the road, the low-key, carbon-black form practically disappears into the forest, but to walk through the house is to move from darkness to light, pulled by the eastern wall of windows that frames the lake down below and the wilderness across the way. Privacy in the front, boundless nature in the back.

Though this dreamy vacation home was completed only last August by Ramm Custom Build, it was a long time coming. Lori, whose background is in early education, and her family have owned the land, along with a tiny on-site cabin, for a decade or so. “We were just drawn to the property,” she says—despite the fact that the steep, rocky landscape made actually spending time in the existing no-power, no-heat, no-water dwelling a challenge. “It wasn’t very accessible or usable,” says Lori. “Certainly not a luxury.”

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The new, 2,500-square-foot getaway, on the other hand? Pure bliss. The family (with their two Portuguese water dogs underfoot) gathers around the outdoor dining table on sunny days. Black-framed doors slide out of sight to connect the kitchen and patio into one indoor/outdoor living area, covered by a slatted Douglas fir trellis. “The kitchen is sort of like the stage for the performance,” says Phillips. Should the weather turn, the U-shaped island bar can seat up to 12. On any given week in the summer, you’ll find the family gathered around the counter, playing cards.

But even inside, the connection to the outdoors is unavoidable, between the organic material palette—birch plywood paneling brings an unfussy warmth, while large-format porcelain floor tiles on the main level are “like walking on suede,” says Lori—and the lakefront views. And then there’s the light, which pours in to illuminate a cozy built-in window seat and creates playful shadows in the stairwell. Whatever Lori paints next, it’s clear she’s living in a work of art.

“It noses out of the forest just a little bit, like it’s peeking out of the trees.”
—Ray Calabro, architect

Project Credits:

Architecture: Bohlin Cywinski Jacksonin association with MillerMottola Calabro

Construction: Ramm Custom Build

Structural Engineering: Blackwell

Civil Engineering: Highland Consulting

Lighting Design: MountainHigh Lighting

Interior Design: BohlinCywinski Jackson

Cabinetry: Forest Designs

Timber Fabrication: Spearhead

Photography: Bryce Duffy / @bryceduffy

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An Artist’s British Columbia Cabin Offers Peace and Perspective