The Muskoka Lake House is a place of respite from city life. It overlooks Lake Rosseau, near Georgian Bay, Ontario, and it complements, but never overwhelms, its environment. The design ethos is warm minimalism and a sense of balance. Light juxtaposes darkness and refined details coexist alongside unfinished surfaces. Rugged blocks of granite, which serve as bathroom sinks or a kitchen island, evoke the boulders and outcroppings of the Canadian Shield. They offset the refined Douglas-fir millwork that surrounds them. The site is immersed in nature. Windows frame views in all directions, not only outward to the lake but also inward to the rocky escarpment. When walking through the house—passing from the entranceway to the great room, or from the dimly lit downstairs hallway to the sundrenched bedrooms—one feels that one is journeying through an inlet in a rockface and emerging, dramatically, into sunlight. Stillness, space, connection to nature—these are the best and most rarified luxuries imaginable.