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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

NO MEAN CITY: Communal cottaging

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CP Harbour House, photo by Terence Tourangeau

Cross-posted from No Mean City, Alex’s personal blog on architecture


Now online and in this month’s Dwell: my story about the CP Harbour House by MJ Architects. It’s a very interesting model of second-home living: a getaway for two families, the architects and their good friends, with two houses that are separate but linked. They share a deck, an overhead “shed” and some of their utilities. It’s a simple idea that depends on trust, good communication, and carefully executed design, and in this case it works very well.

The architects Melana Janzen and John McMinn – who are married – each had an interesting career before they met. They’re now launching their joint practice in earnest and I’m impressed with their work so far. Here is my Toronto Life piece about their home and office.

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