De l’Épée Residence
De l’Épée Residence is a minimalist home located in Montreal, Canada, designed by Michael Godmer Studio. The project navigates an essential tension in renovation practice – how to honor architectural heritage while answering contemporary domestic complexity. This early 1900s Outremont residence presented not merely a preservation challenge but a question of domestic choreography: how can a house absorb the multiplicity of contemporary work-from-home realities, international cultural memory, and theatrical sensibility without sacrificing its period character? The answer emerged through what might be called strategic restraint – interventions that layer rather than replace, creating architectural depth through accumulated gesture rather than wholesale transformation.
The central staircase remains untouched, functioning as both literal and conceptual fulcrum. Around this fixed point, the renovation unfolds through subtle architectural devices: rounded door frames that soften thresholds, reconfigured openings that establish new visual relationships, redesigned windows that recalibrate light. These gestures operate quietly, extending the house’s existing material language rather than overwriting it. The result resembles a palimpsest where each intervention remains legible without competing for dominance. This approach required particular precision in working with inherited wood detailing – preserving original warmth while introducing contemporary brushed lacquered woods and uniform finishes that share tonal affinity without mimicking historical craft.
Integrated cabinetry became the primary spatial organizing tool, often replacing traditional walls to maximize the 2,140-square-foot footprint while creating functionally distinct zones. A dedicated art therapy space for one client sits within the domestic flow, while an upstairs office provides retreat for focused work. This strategy recalls European compact apartment design where custom millwork defines rooms without enclosing them, but here serves a different purpose – not maximizing minimal space but creating nuanced privacy gradients within generous proportions.
Custom doors emerged as signature elements requiring sustained collaboration with local artisans – wood-framed glazed doors, solid bespoke panels, louvered wardrobes. Each operates as unique joinery, calibrated to specific thresholds and functional requirements. The powder room intensifies theatricality through saturated pink tones that reference Wes Anderson’s constructed worlds, while the primary bedroom suite establishes a quieter, more sensual register where spatial intimacy governs material choices.
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