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The conventional wisdom in Western Canada is: if you want a modern house, you build it in a downtown or inner-city neighbourhood; if you want a spacious and traditional family-friendly house, you retreat to one of the subdivisions that surround every major city. And never the twain shall meet.
So it comes as a shock as you drive up Bridgetown Drive in the relatively new Winnipeg neighbourhood of Royalwood to discover, in midst of hundreds of very large, very new, builders’ specials, a 2,300-square-foot dwelling that appears to have been conjured by the hand of Frank Lloyd Wright himself.
It’s like a grown-up game of the old Sesame Street chant: “One of these thing is not like the others.”
For the homeowner and his young family, the traditional housing paradigm left them feeling unfulfilled: “Royalwood offered a proximity to downtown, plus the green space and Seine River frontage that I knew would be huge plus for us.” But having spent the previous four years in a standard suburban home, complete with the typical gabled roof and views of the neighbours’ fences, they were sure that another cookie-cutter house wasn’t an option. The couple explains that they wanted to create the kind of classic modernist house they had always admired, “without offending any of the existing residents.”
Finding an architect to help break the typical suburban mold was no problem. The owner had known Phil Fredrickson for close to 25 years, when both grew up in Winnipeg near the Assiniboine River. Fredrickson’s father was also an architect, and their family house had inspired the homeowner since boyhood with its clean integration into a natural setting. Similarly, Fredrickson immediately wanted to design a home for his friend that would highlight the riverfront setting. “My first idea was to open up the main floor and use the strong axis of the center hall,” to help draw the eye towards the wending Seine River whose banks define the backyard.
Finding a builder was more of a task. Like most new developments, Royalwood had authorized only a handful of builders, all working in more traditional styles, to work in the subdivision. None of them would consider a commission to build the modern house the family and the architect had in mind. Enter Brian Contant of Character Homes. Known for his deft and careful touch with modern houses, Contant was not on the designated list; but it didn’t hurt that he was at the time the well-respected president of the Manitoba Home Builders Association. With some convincing, he sold all the stakeholders on allowing the family to build their dream home on the Seine.
The homeowner likens the building process to “two friends building a tree fort,” as he and Fredrickson met frequently to hash out the combined vision. The key was to create a modern house that blended (rather than clashed) with the location, overcoming perceptions of badly done modernist designs that are stark white or concrete and glass boxes that impose themselves on their surroundings. Fredrickson’s design channels the original, Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie House style: the flat roof, softened with 18-inch overhangs with cedar soffits, mirrors the environment and exterior colours that seem flow up form the surrounding landscape. Ironically, today the house is the only one in the community that seems to blend into the landscape.
The finished product is striking without ever drawing attention to itself, just the fine balance the family desired. “We wanted a functional family home that worked for our lives.” What they have achieved is unusual: a contemporary dwelling in a planned neighbourhood. A striking facade that is all Chicago, with a backyard rink that is pure Winnipeg. Perhaps the truest mark of the house’s success is its acceptance by the neighbours as part of the community. Says one neighbour, “When friends can’t find our house, I tell them it’s beside the modern one.”
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