Schoolcraft Solar Home

A modest but highly efficient country home is built on a hillside in the Eastern Townships

Can you build an efficient architect-designed home in the middle of nowhere on a decent budget? That was the hope of a young family when they purchased their land in 2019. With the pandemic, the project accelerated. The challenge was to take advantage of the view of the green mountains to the west, maximize thermal gains in the winter to the south, reduce deforestation on the land, minimize the building’s footprint in the landscape, all with the lowest cost and… as quickly as possible ! 

Compact and minimal, the interior volume is located near the road and oriented towards the view to the west. A long shed extends the roof over the entrance, protecting its inhabitants from unwanted glances and their car from bad weather. From the road, the house is totally unremarkable. As you step inside, you are surrounded by the woodland on one side and the horizon on the other. The tall mature ash and maple trees to the south protect the windows from the summer overheat. The walk-in master bedroom enjoys a stunning view toward the sunset, while the three compact garden level bedrooms take advantage of the sloping land. The prefabrication of the highly airtight wooden walls made it possible to quickly build an almost passive house with a lean consumption of 114 kWh/m²/year. Despite the post-pandemic inflation, the challenge was met !  Welcome to the friendly Schoolcraft solar house !