Small Smart Lake Home | YAM Magazine

A thoughtfully designed Shawnigan Lake rebuild proves that you can pack a whole lot of living into a not-so-big space.

By Carla Sorrell | Photos by Dasha Armstrong

Dinah and Chris had long dreamed of re-doing their small but beloved Shawnigan Lake home — something modest, efficient and built to last. When the time finally came, Dinah pulled out a local newspaper clipping she’d saved years earlier. It featured the home of builder Jackson Leidenfrost, owner of Hygge Design, and what stayed with her wasn’t just the modern esthetic — it was his philosophy of building “small but smart,” using thoughtful, cost-effective materials.

When Dinah discovered that Leidenfrost lived in the neighbourhood, the decision felt obvious. One meeting was all it took. It was such a good fit, in fact, that the couple and Leidenfrost still meet regularly for coffee or a visit.

Although Leidenfrost had designed his own home, Dinah and Chris knew they wanted to bring an architect onto the project as well. “I worked on another, bigger commercial project with an architect, but our house project in Calgary made us realize that an architect makes the build sing,” says Dinah.

The homeowners loved their small, old Shawnigan Lake logger’s cabin, but knew it needed a major makeover to become the sort of “forever home”  they had in mind.

A Forever Home

The original house — a former loggers’ cabin — was, as Chris puts it, “dark and dank and hardly insulated, with rodents crawling in behind the walls.” Despite its shortcomings, the couple loved it. The long, narrow property is split by a road, with a steep incline down to the lake on one side and gardens on the other. A detached garage with a guest suite sits behind the home — a space Dinah and Chris would become very familiar with, living in it during the more than two-year build.

A few online searches led them to Fold Architecture, whose work stood out for its emphasis on high-performance homes and generous use of windows. Sonnen Sloan, principal at Fold Architecture, took on the project. A certified passive house designer, Sloan’s design ethos aligned closely with the couple’s goals.

The exterior of the home combines contemporary design, including plenty of windows to let the light in, with local materials such as the cedar shakes milled in Qualicum.

Early designs for a two-storey dream home had already been submitted for zoning approval when a new municipal regulation came into effect: All main floors were now required to sit 100 feet above the floodline, a response to recent atmospheric flooding in British Columbia. For Dinah and Chris, this meant raising the house significantly — adding long flights of stairs that made neither aging in place nor their indoor-outdoor lifestyle practical.

It was a disappointing curveball. But with the right team and mindset, the couple pivoted. Renovating the existing home, rather than building a new one, meant their project wouldn’t be subject to the new bylaws. The plan shifted to deconstructing the house while maintaining its original footprint, with permission to add up to 25 per cent more square footage. It was less than they’d hoped for, but workable.

“They didn’t want their house going in the garbage in 40 years,” says Leidenfrost. “They wanted something they’d feel good about building — and they didn’t want to see a lot of waste.”

That ethos became a guiding principle. Dinah and Chris, who organize an annual community cleanup, were committed to minimizing waste throughout the process. A local company was hired to carefully deconstruct the original house and salvage as much material as possible. Other items were sold on Facebook Marketplace or donated to ReStore. Their old French doors now hang in a distillery on Pender Island, while much of the salvaged plywood lives on in a rebuilt cabin in Lake Cowichan.

Many elements were restored and reused: the woodstove and ceiling fan; the kitchen fridge relocated to the pantry; kitchen cupboards repainted and taps repurposed for the laundry room. Cedar from the old front deck — already on its second life after originating as bedroom ceiling material — was planed, sanded and reused once again to rebuild the new deck.

No two windows are the same shape or size in  this home, and each one offers beautiful views of the surrounding trees and gardens. At the same time, the high ceilings offer plenty of space for  the homeowners to display their art collection.

Efficient Design

The result is a 1,400-square-foot home that feels anything but small. Designed for efficiency and flow, the layout reflects how Dinah and Chris live. A large, open hallway lined with hooks allows for seamless transitions between gardening, swimming and welcoming guests from the onsite guest house. A flexible room with lake views functions as a home office, guest room or overflow dining space where retracting doors allow the dining table to extend when hosting larger gatherings.

“I never thought there would be space for a pantry and a laundry room,” says Dinah. “My husband’s an amazing cook and needs lots of space for pots and platters, so having places to tuck things away makes a huge difference.”

She credits Sloan with clever design solutions, including placing the mechanical room upstairs without counting it toward the home’s square footage — a move that helped maximize usable space.

One of the most intriguing and clever space-saving features of the home is the open-plan bathroom. The wall behind the headboard in the primary bedroom becomes a walk-in shower on the other side.

The primary suite is compact but thoughtfully designed. A wall at the head of the bed doubles as a walk-in shower on the other side.

“It’s not for everyone,” admits Chris of the open-plan bathroom. The couple laugh, noting that there are blinds in front, with the back looking onto the garden.

Knowing the couple spends winters in Mexico, Sloan suspected they might be open to some unconventional design choices inspired by Mexican homes — like open bathrooms.

“That was a win,” says Sloan. “It takes a certain client. The room is small, so keeping it open and fluid helps it feel longer and more spacious.”

One of the home’s most distinctive features is its windows. No two are the same size. Inspired by the couple’s eclectic art collection, the varied proportions echo the paintings that now hang throughout the house, from a son’s graduation artwork to a print discovered in the attic of the original cabin. Leidenfrost further refined the detail by wrapping each window in wood rather than drywall, eliminating traditional casing for a clean, simple and cost-effective finish.

Inside, the home feels airy and much larger than its 1,400-square-foot area would suggest, thanks to the high ceilings, windows that flood the space with natural light and smart space-saving design like the sliding doors that screen off the office area next to the kitchen.

A Perfect Fit for Two

Living remotely at Shawnigan Lake required a few pragmatic compromises. The wood-burning fireplace was retained to offset frequent winter power outages. Even so, Dinah reports their heating bills have dropped by  40 per cent.

“We weren’t able to build a passive house,” says Sloan, “but we were able to build an extremely efficient home that truly meets their needs.”

Above the hooks in the hallway hangs a piece of the old wood floor alongside vintage Korean wallpaper from Dinah’s family. Nearly every element was thoughtfully considered, with many materials sourced locally — from cedar shakes milled in Qualicum to kitchen cabinetry by Cowichan Woodwork and metalwork by Freeman Fabrication.

From every room, Dinah and Chris can take in the landscape, each view layered with memory and intention.

“It’s a small house — it really is,” says Chris, who cooked for 16 people at Christmas. “It was built for two people, but it can host a crowd. It’s perfect for us.”