Wooden hut with totems

Small wooden houses and cottages have a special charm that keeps us coming back with examples. After Swedish island house and the one on the rocky shores of the Atlantic, It's the turn of a log cabin in the forest in the Coast Mountains, British Columbia, Canada. The unusual look, with the roof resting on totem poles, is the first to catch the eye. The totems greatly characterize the small building, even giving it its name - The Totems.

The cottage by the pond

The cottage was designed by architect Henry Yorke Mann. The clients, who had half an acre of dense forest in the Coast Mountains, wanted a guest house in the middle of the forest. The cottage was built on the banks of a pond, also built by them.

Surrounded by phallic trees, The Totems is almost mystical. The cabin's thick log roof is worn by massive stylized figures, a tribute to the forest spirit. The totems and other aspects of the cabin's design are reminiscent of the plank houses of several indigenous tribes of the Pacific North Coast.

Mica Faberge jewellery box

The hut is rectangular, symmetrical with a central fireplace. The walls are made of logs joined at the corners in swallowtailand the roof is made of thick planks of cedar. It is supported, as in Haida houses, by several beams running the length of the house, including one along each side wall.

These side beams allowed the architect to insert glass between the beams and the walls so that the heavy roof structure appears to float above the log walls. The short sides of the rectangle, the entrance and rear of the house, are largely glazed, with doors and windows set between the totems.

The house has a footprint of 37.2 square meters. The central granite fireplace separates the front, where the living and dining space is, from the back, with the kitchen and bathroom. An interesting staircase placed behind the fireplace allows access to the loft, where the sleeping space is, because bedroom would be too much to say. The lack of space is more than made up for by the view of the star-filled sky provided by the roof skylights.

When the cottage was ready, the owners instantly fell in love with it and gave up their 400 m² house in the city to live here permanently. They say of The Totems that it's like a Faberge jewelry box that, when looked at carefully, continually reveals its surprises.

(source: smallhousebliss.com)