From dream to reality | Building a haven of peace in Eastman

Any renovation (or new construction) requires a good deal of planning and crowns a long-term process. Once a month, we will discover projects of various sizes, which could give ideas.

Danielle Bonneau
The Press

The first year and a half of their life together, Sophie Héon and Steven Turcot lived in the tiny 232 sq.^⁠2 that the young man had bought in Griffintown. When they began to dream of an ecological house in the middle of the forest, this experience guided their thinking.

“We learned a lot,” explains Steven. We thought we didn’t need a big castle. This gave us some clues for our project. »

Passionate about health, having adopted a vegan and gluten-free diet almost six years ago and opting only for organic products, they wanted to settle in the heart of nature. In September 2019, they acquired two neighboring lots in Eastman. Before embarking on the self-construction of a home that they wanted to be ecological, healthy, with high energy performance and durable, they prepared themselves carefully.

As a nurse, Steven arranged his schedule to take courses in carpentry and joinery, as part of a vocational studies diploma (DEP) program.

“I’m not very manual,” he admits. I wanted to understand the project well and be able to take part in it as much as possible. I took classes from August 7, 2019 until March 2020, when the pandemic started. Sophie, who is a pharmacist, and I also wanted to deepen our knowledge of ecological construction. From September 2019 to March 2020, we did the training offered by Solution Era together. One weekend a month, we attended conferences on the practices and standards of the future, to get ahead of the Building Code. »

“That’s where we met the designer Julie Girard, who designed our ecological house, and those who did the framework, from Econovation. It was intense, because I was working at the same time. When the pandemic broke out, I went to the regions to lend a hand. It was Sophie who took the steps with the City to obtain the permits. Construction began in September. »

They have set themselves ambitious goals, aiming for LEED Platinum certification, the highest level that can be achieved. With the Larsen double frame framework, which allows maximum insulation without thermal bridges, and the insulation made with hemp wool, they tend towards a neutral carbon balance.

“We really went a long way to promote Quebec products,” says Steven. I spent hours reading why I would use certain materials from here rather than others imported from Germany or France. It was for example very complicated to bring in hemp wool, because it is not yet very accessible to the population. But we really wanted to use local, forward-looking and sustainable material. »

They also paid great attention to the design of the house, which they named Shanti (meaning “peace” in Hindi). This one does not have a basement and its area totals 1826 sq.ft. ² (169.6m ²), on two levels.

Seeing the long term, the owners have not skimped on the quality of the materials and the work carried out. They opted for an eco-friendly kitchen made to measure by the Montreal company À Height d’homme, in the hope that they would not replace it anytime soon. The cabinetmaker Philippe Rivest based himself on a sample of the white oak used in the making of the kitchen to dress the rest of the interior of the house. The stair steps, which extend into a bench, the wall warmed by wooden slats and the alcove next to the sauna are some of his creations.

“It’s soothing when you enter, observes Steven. We wanted to have a space where we could recharge our batteries when we finished working. It was important to have a room on the ground floor with an infrared sauna and an alcove for relaxation, as well as a spa. We did an Ayurvedic retreat in India. »

The construction was not easy. To be close to the site, they first rented a small apartment in Orford, then in Magog. They had to deal with delays, price increases and the scarcity of certain materials during the pandemic, while being called upon to work in the regions on a rotating basis. The coordination of the various trades was particularly difficult.

“For everything to run smoothly, good communication was needed between Sophie and me,” says Steven. We arrived, we had worked like crazy, we had to make purchases. Sometimes I have the impression that people cannot understand the magnitude of the challenge and the difficulties encountered in this project. But we are very proud and happy that it is almost over. »