Anchored on family land with an unusual history, this house built on the shores of Lake Memphremagog, near the charming village of Georgeville, ensures an easy and comfortable lifestyle for all ages in an exceptional setting.
Energetic and very endearing, Denise Lachance tells the story of this house with great verve. “Mom worked for Dad who was a businessman and to thank her, he bought her a chalet in 1958. » Denise was only 9 years old at the time, but she was already enjoying the pleasures of driving a boat on the lake with her father, a passion that never left her. Swimming is also part of his daily life, especially since the family floating dock attracts many friends.
In 1991, there was talk of building a marina in place of their deceased neighbor’s chalet on stilts, a project clearly compromising the tranquility of the place. Denise, her sister Monique and their parents then got together and decided to purchase it together, then rent it or lend it to friends during the holidays.
Years later, a fir tree fell on the house which became uninhabitable, which prompted the Lachance sisters, who had become sole owners since the disappearance of their parents, to replace it with a large contemporary house to enjoy it full time and receive their children there. children and their grandchildren.
On the advice of a heritage architect friend, Denise Lachance contacted Maxime-Alexis Frappier of the firm ACDF Architecture. During their first meeting, Ms. Lachance began to list a very practical list of what she wanted. “Mr. Frappier stopped me right away by saying that the first step was to get to know us so that he could understand our lifestyle and how to organize the space accordingly.”
For example, a large island for cooking, because they love preparing good meals and entertaining, but also a beautiful space for reading, because the Saturday morning ritual of these charming ladies is to go to the village of Georgeville to look for La Press, which still existed in paper version at the time. “We made a little coffee, then we read our big press all morning! »
They also wanted two bedrooms and a bathroom on the ground floor in anticipation of possible mobility problems, then a third bedroom, a mezzanine serving as an office and dormitory, a TV room for the children and a second bathroom. bathroom on the upper floor.
Construction, carried out under the leadership of Pierre Boivin of Constructions Boivin, was finally able to begin in December 2014 and was completed in August 2015.
The architect designed the house so that it blends into the landscape as much as possible. Mainly made of hemlock weathered over time, the building takes the form of a wooden fence that envelops the living areas, modulating the openings to make the most of the panorama and the sunshine.
Described as a highway by Denise, this formwork, which starts from the garage and serves as a corridor to connect the rooms on the upper level, hides the electrical cables, plumbing and ventilation.
Black and white complement each other everywhere, including in the bathrooms where ebony marble countertops and glossy white cabinets match those in the kitchen.
This monochromy is also found in the vast mudroom communicating with the garage. Very functional, this passage, which includes the laundry room, is equipped with fun hooks accessible to adults as well as children.
When the house was finished, everything remained to be done on the land. “We could see the sewage field, the septic tank and I couldn’t wait for the snow to arrive,” remembers Denise Lachance, who then contacted the landscape architect France Duhamel, telling her not to put too much lawn to limit maintenance.
“France designed a plan including a dry lake that we fell in love with; it also won a prize following our development. » Zen and poetic, the place is inhabited by many native plants and the septic tank disappears under a bed of daylilies, while the sewage field, buried to clear the view, is garnished with numerous plants. Large stone slabs trace the path in this rejuvenating garden.
Today, the sisters have decided to sell their large home, because Monique has a pied-à-terre in Montreal and Denise lives alone in Magog full time. She will therefore look for a smaller house and leave to the next person the happiness of living there and in turn creating beautiful memories.
