With $237K CAD, an architect couple built their new home on old land. “For us, it was about designing a home for the life we wanted to live,” says Marika Drolet-Ferguson. She and her partner, Mathieu Boucher-Côté, who cofounded design firm nordais_architecture, had spent years living nomadically when they decided to settle down and have a child. Between teaching gigs and artist residencies, they’d often return to Marika’s childhood home, so it made sense to them to build something there; it was just a matter of asking themselves what a permanent home might look like. During the design process, a key influence was the Swedish sommarhus tradition they encountered while doing a residency in 2016. “Everyone just disappears to their sommarhus in nature. They’re disconnected from technology,” says Marika. Her graduate research also shaped their thinking on density and multigenerational living. By sharing a wall with her parents’ home (and a connection through the basement) the couple intenti...