The English Manor

Clients:

THE
CONTEMPORARY
ENGLISH MANOR

CONTEMPORARY

Jesse designed the Contemporary English Manor home for a prestigiously large lot in Oakville that he master planned and designed every aspect of including custom home design, interior design, and landscape design. Recognizing that this was not a custom home design style that was at all common in the area, he saw it as his opportunity to leave his mark on the character of the neighbourhood for decades to come.

The classic charm of these country homes is often related to the mixture of architectural styles as a result of how often they changed hands when different families rose and fell from power. In some cases, up to 6 centuries of design tastes and characteristics are reflected in the facades of these manors. To that effect, Jesse had a very wide range of inspiration to draw from starting with the footprint itself. The size of this lot allowed him to design an “L” shaped footprint, capturing the sense of sprawling luxury of the “E” or “H” shaped footprints of these country retreats are known for.

CONTEMPORARY

For every home that Jesse designs, he starts with a sun study in order to ensure that his floor plans are designed in a way to either position each room in line with the sun during its average highest time of use, or to draw natural light from one space to another. In this case, Jesse utilized a second-floor window wall above the front door that shines into the two-storey grand foyer. Jesse purposely symmetrically aligned the foyer hallway that leads to the kitchen, living, and dining rooms with these foyer windows in order to draw north-facing morning light into these spaces at the rear of the home. He also designed a second-floor mezzanine hallway, along with specific bedroom door positioning in line with these second-floor windows in order to draw morning light into the bedrooms as well.

Considerations of this nature require the custom home designer to be in control of the planning of the entire project to such a degree that they can understand the impact of exterior aesthetic decisions on the interior design plans as well as in the grand scheme of the desired environment. Jesse did just that, striking a balance between function and luxurious beauty with proportionality, symmetry, architectural interest, and natural light in mind.

CONTEMPORARY

The proportions of the home that were captured in the sketches almost exactly match the executed rendered design vision, and are the single only reason that this home doesn’t feel monolithic due to its sheer size. Indeed making a home of this nature feel “proportionate” and “sprawling” is difficult as it requires a second storey in order to offer the required living space.

To combat this effect, Jesse designed a unique storey and a half garage that serves to ground the home, offering a refreshing contrast to the grand two storey massing. The elegance of having an architecturally significant feature like this is reminiscent of the classic single storey libraries or chapels that were commonly featured in these unique manors of the past. They would commonly be clad in a different material than the rest of the facade, offering a vastly different architectural style. In this case, Jesse opted to take the opportunity to feature small dormers within the roofline that ties the home together quaintly given the existing range of contemporary details featured throughout the front and rear facades.

On the exterior, the rustic Ontario fieldstone facade is a notable feature on its own, offering a stunningly rustic texture that is made to feel refined in the context of the home’s proportions, as well as in the presence of the large format windows throughout the facade. The stone selected for this application is a mixture of Ontario fieldstone that has been chipped and fitted on-site to offer the artistically aged character found in other significant structures throughout the province, including the Elora Mill. This material captures the authentic warmth that we love to be in the presence of in hospitality spaces, a warmth that we hope will characterize the neighbourhood for decades to come.

In the spirit of designing this style through a contemporary lens, Jesse designed floor-to-ceiling windows that span across the main floor dining room, kitchen, great room, sitting room, and office, as well as the two-storey foyer. Large windows were considered an amenity of the wealthy in these homes of the past, and we love living up to this historic sentiment. However, other than opulence, these windows serve to harness natural light into every room of the home. And while the profile of these windows is contemporary, Jesse designed specifically proportioned mullions within these windows to offer a traditional touch that grounds the character of the home in a warm and inviting manner.

However, in stark contrast to these sleek contemporary windows, Jesse’s historically accurate style came through when he included a tudor style masonry archway detail that characterizes the front door vestibule. This uniquely historic detail paired with prominent chimneys, dormer windows, and traditional English gardens add to the intended effect of capturing the quaintly rustic and sprawling sense of luxury that homes of this design style radiate

However, in stark contrast

The hip roof feature at the far right side of the home was another ode to the timeless manors of the English countryside as well, offering another roofline profile that adds a sense of architectural interest and authenticity. Having different architectural design details from different design periods is a commonality among most manors or country homes that you see in England. This is because as different families rose and fell from power, these homes would trade hands and were often added to in a format that reflected the current owner’s architectural tastes. However, they were almost always clad with consistent material to create a sense of design cohesivity.

At the rear, a similar design style was seen through in Jesse’s usual fashion, as he always see’s the rear facade as an opportunity to characterize the backyard entertaining spaces and amenities. When a facade like this serves as the backdrop to your relaxation time, or for your time with family and friends, its hard not to feel wrapped in luxurious surroundings.

The windows, similar to the front facade, serve to both create the contemporary design rendition Jesse sought after, while harnessing a wealth of direct South facing natural light into the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, and the second floor bedrooms.

The landscape designs include a covered loggia, a pool featuring a unique liner, highly specific backyard planting plans and shrubbery selections, as well as exterior garden lighting to create a stunning night time entertaining setting. The placement of these amenities were also placed based on his initial sun study.