The owner’s tour | Great teamwork

Owners open the doors of their exceptional homes to us, offered on the resale market.

Built to endure decades, this house located five minutes from the center of the village of Sainte-Adèle, in the Laurentians, invites contemplation. And behind it, a river flows…

When Sara Farquharson and Maxime Duzyk bought this land on the water’s edge, they lived in an old house in downtown Sainte-Adèle.

“We wanted to build a new building and we liked the south-facing orientation of this land, in addition to the fact that there was a river at the back,” recalls Sara. The couple then lets themselves be seduced by the environment and the adventure begins.

Director in building science and architectural technician, Maxime has solid knowledge to carry out this project, while Sara, who is a photographer, brings her artistic touch. Their qualities complement each other wonderfully and from one or two threesomes, then four, they reach the staggering number of 200 shots! They spend hours designing houses so that the end result is beautiful, functional and maximizes sunlight.

Obviously, the project of this amazing team could not see the light of day without some friction, all in all good natured!

Caring loved ones

Once planning was decided, construction could begin. “That’s when we sold our downtown house to avoid having two mortgages at the same time,” says Maxime. We moved into a small 3 ½, we put our furniture in storage with the family and we naively thought it would take six months, but in fact, we stayed in the semi-basement apartment for two years. » “With our two cats! », adds Sara.

As the two worked mostly from home, their offices were next to each other and Maxime was often in meetings on the phone, they sometimes got on each other’s nerves! But their love went beyond the problems of cramped conditions, unpacked boxes waiting for the new home and site supervision!

“For example, Maxime’s brother did all the electricity. We made him move the lights just to see what it looked like and finally got him back to the original place,” Sara points out. This is the advantage of working with loved ones; stay natural even if it means being a little annoying and hearing yourself say it, then celebrating together!

Scandinavian influence

The burnt wood exterior and the tin roof set the tone for the residence, where all the construction details have been designed with sustainability and energy efficiency in mind. The choice of noble materials and the windows oriented according to the sunshine reinforce these ecological notions.

In terms of design, the couple created an interior with a minimalist but warm look, like the Nordic or Scandinavian style. Wood is therefore also omnipresent inside, sometimes investing the walls, the floor or the ceiling and is balanced with heated concrete floors whose color evokes river stones. “We kept the river theme throughout the design because there were a lot of rocks on the land. We kept them in particular to make the retaining walls and create an outdoor shower,” explains the photographer.

In this environment striving for well-being, Sara and Maxime each benefit from their office at either end of the residence and enjoy meeting up in the common area with its calming atmosphere at the end of the day.

Despite a huge amount of time invested in this project, this endearing couple, who have lived together for 17 years, decided to move on. “We are leaving it, because my work requires me to travel more and more and Sara does too, so we need a smaller base. And then, we also wanted to start a project again in another style of house,” explains Maxime. With the experience of this house, our project is much easier to manage and we love each other even more than before construction! »

Consult the property file