Hilltop Cottage by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Blends Cottage and Cabin in New Brunswick

In New Brunswick, Canada, the pavilion-style Hilltop Cottage was designed by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects as a memorial to the owners' engagement. The home, clad in shingles, merges traditional cottage elements with a modern typology. Its monolithic roof evokes a stone building, while sliding timber doors add a cabin-like intimacy. The architects aimed to create a place of reflection, using local fieldstone and wood doors, and drawing on Scottish shielings and Irish tower houses. They cite Charles Moore's 1962 Orinda House as inspiration for a 'house within a house'. The design features a centralised plan, an uninterrupted corner window, deep overhangs, and two skylights. The architects describe an elevated sensory experience with an all-wood palette, particularly cedar, and expansive views of the river valley. The project was featured in Wallpaper* magazine, with writing by Tianna Williams.