When picturing a quiet getaway in the woods, the first thing that most people think of is a more or less conventional log cabin. Still, it?s always fun to see architects and builders moving away from that norm and creating structures with a little more imagination and verve to them, such as modern tree houses and camouflaged subterranean lairs. When tasked with designing a fun retreat in the forests of Sutton, Canada, YH2 Architecture turned to a beloved animal dwelling for inspiration: the birdhouse.

In many cases, the most alluring and effective birdhouses boast deceptively simple designs. They?re usually taller than they are wide, featuring pitched roofs and openings just above of the center of their front-facing facades. The entrance’s off-center position is meant to protect any eggs that might be inside the house and, later on, gives parent birds enough room to drop food into their chicks’ open mouths from above.
For “La Colombière,” which translates to “the dovecote,” YH2 was asked to transform a lumberman’s former storage shed into a quiet refuge for the new owner without increasing its geographic footprint. The “new owner” in question is Suzanne Rochon, a landscape architect who mostly bought the property for the land that came with it. Being an architect herself, Rochon began renovating the cabin on her own. While she found it suitably comfortable for a single person, she felt like she didn?t have enough sp...