The Kiervin residence was formed around a respect for boundaries and connections to the surrounding landscape. Finding harmony between the transgression of built form and the regenerative qualities of the existing pastoral landscape was necessary in achieving a successful project.

Views of the Hockley Valley in one direction rotate through the home to views of the Concession Line. The motion of capturing these views was the driving force for the siting of the home.

Siting the home far back from the road made it possible to create processional pathways to the home. Stone walls are worked into the landscape negotiating and delimiting private and universal landscape, man-made and earthly.
 

Rocks and boulders from the excavation of the foundation are deliberately reworked into the grounds as archaeological artifacts. During construction, nature itself gently and sardonically reminded our Architect of its indifference to human built form:

“The builders found a stone the size of a Volkswagen, and they were unable to get it out. So the building is not where it’s supposed to be, it’s actually moved over a bit!”

Functional spaces in the Kiervin Residence are separated by glazed passageways. These transitory spaces are filled with light and welcome vistas of nature into the home. This sense of motion is continued through clear axes that drive through the home.
 

The sleeping area terminates a primary east-west axis in a rotunda and establishes a clear spiritual separation of rest from the daily operations of the household. Nods to classical architectural form throughout the home culminate in an operable oculus resting atop a dome above the bed.

Below the sleeping quarters, a place for the social activities of drinking and smoking are found. Reflecting the shape of the rotunda above it, the bare-concrete smoking room is surrounded by a wine cellar. A pea gravel floor acknowledges French traditions of cellaring and wine bottles are stacked along the circular walls playfully suggesting an infinite amount of wine.

Local stone grounds the base walls of the home in the material palette of the region and instills a sense of place. From this, an undecorated, soft white-plaster form rises to interrupt the traditional roofline, and comprises the vertical circulation of the home. Knockouts at the apex of the form are reserved for a bell, and are reminiscent of old notions of calling workers back at the end of a long day working the farm. White siding clads the upper portion of the home, referencing the vernacular rural buildings of Kent County where the client grew up.