Glaciers sculpted the area north of the Great Lakes between Quebec City and Montreal into the immensely fertile St. Lawrence Lowlands. Today, large farms spread out in the open expanses, and small townships like Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham, Quebec, dot the landscape. It is in this village that architect Pierre Thibault of Quebec City crafted Les Abouts, a house designed to invite the outside in. The owners sought a country home to fit like a glove in the site—in harmony with, rather than impinging on, its surroundings.

This 2,500-square-foot residence, built in white birch with post-and-beam construction, sits on a wooded site with a small river running through it. Over time, the river’s meandering has created a pocket of land. The architect, who labored for two years to find the perfect placement for the house, located Les Abouts in this cul-de-sac, making it possible to view the river from most locations inside. Encircled on three sides by water, the house hovers like a wooden raft adrift on a sea of soft ostrich ferns, with towering birch, hemlock, cedar, maple, and basswood trees rising around it. The name Les Abouts, French for “at the end,” refers to the location of this 4-acre parcel of land at the terminus of a 20-acre agricultural plot farmed by one of the owner’s families.