The house is located on a sixty-acre farm in Lunenburg County, a small community on the south shore of Nova Scotia. From the road, the property is protected by two old weathered red barns, sitting side-by-side with a gap between them. Beyond the barns, the land is bisected from east to west by a long row of mature maple trees. There is a gentle slope falling across the site from north to south. Past the row of trees to the north is a large pasture of tall grasses and wildflowers. The pasture extends to a mature forest which continues diagonally across the property. A small orchard sits in the middle of the pasture.

The row of maple trees is unusually situated, dividing the barns from the pasture. They provide a place to stand, to be next to, and to locate a position in an otherwise open expanse. The old textured trees offer shade and protection with their large overhanging canopies. Our impulse to site the new house next to the trees was both intuitive and immediate.

The new house sits between the line of existing trees to the south and the orchard to the north. It extends 170 feet in a straight line along the north side of the maple trees, just beyond their overhanging canopies. One side of the house faces the line of trees and barns.

The opposite side faces the pasture, orchard, and forest. In-line with the gap between the barns, there is a parting of the tree line. Here the house is subdivided into public and private wings by a breezeway.

The exterior of the house is clad completely in white corrugated metal panels, a nod to the white farmhouses found throughout rural Nova Scotia. The white surfaces also provide a contrasting backdrop for the trees, enhancing the legibility of their light green foliage and dark brown trunks. The interior is defined by an eight-foot tall band of maple panels and windows. To minimize cuts, the 4x8-foot panels established the dimensional module for the project.

The house employs a rational post-frame construction that consists of prefabricated, repetitive wood elements: laminated posts, gang-nail trusses, purlins, and girts. The foundation consists of prefabricated concrete piers and pad footings. The system minimizes the amount of time on site and can be assembled with unskilled labour, which is particularly important in rural areas where skilled labour is scarce. The system is also very economical, minimizing both the cost and quantity of materials.