Montreal studio Thomas Balaban Architect has turned a gabled farmhouse in Quebec’s Eastern Townships completely white, and then contrasted it with an extension covered in weathered cedar cladding.

The Knowlton Residence is located in rural Canada, a few hours outside of Montreal, in a popular ski destination. The clients enlisted the architects to turn their existing vacation into a residence where they could live permanently.

TBA added a two-storey volume to the site to site atop the footprint of a previous expansion. The barns that are abundant in the area influenced TBA’s choices for the exterior treatment of both structures. The firm subverted the selection, however, updating the existing farmhouse in contemporary materials, and rendering it white, and then using more traditional materials for the extension.

The main entrance to the 300-square-metre home leads into the original gabled structure, which contains the family’s open-plan kitchen and dining room. This space enjoys higher ceilings because the of the roof’s pitch, which is exposed inside.This area connects to the sitting room located in the extension. The two volumes are linked by sliding glass doors that open from either room onto a terrace.

A flight of wooden stairs flanked by a solid white guardrail leads upstairs, to the home’s three bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom. At the top of the stairs, a media room separates the two smaller bedrooms, while the master suite is set slightly away from the others.

Pale white floors run throughout, complementing the owner’s Scandinavian-inspired wooden furniture. Most walls are bare white surfaces, which are offset by thick black window frames and matching accent walls, creating a monochrome palette.

This feature was originally published in dezeen.com.