¼C Modern ✳

The catalog · No. 03

The Butterfly

A butterfly roof, stone columns, and a conversation pit at the centre. 2 bed + flex and 1 bath + powder, 1,260 square feet. Small, honest, tight.

The Butterfly design study render
Study No. 03 · design study render

The two faces

Modest to the street, open to the garden.

From the street: a calm, low face. The house saves its glass for the garden.
From the street: a calm, low face. The house saves its glass for the garden.
The garden side opens wide in glass and warm light. The face the family lives with.
The garden side opens wide in glass and warm light. The face the family lives with.
The way in, sheltered under deep eaves, a lit door at dusk.
The way in, sheltered under deep eaves, a lit door at dusk.

The plan

Every square foot, accounted for.

Program2 bed + flex · 1 bath + powder
Floor area1,260 sq ft · 1 storey
StructureTimber frame on stone piers
RoofButterfly, central scupper
EnvelopeStep Code 5 target · ACH50 ≤ 1.0, blower-door verified
Signaturesunken conversation pit · clerestory band

Plan drawn to the render. Room dimensions on the drawing; areas sum to the stated floor area. A construction set follows the House No. 1 pipeline.

CLERESTORY BAND KITCHEN 10'×12' BATH 8'×12' BED 2 11'×12' BED 1 13'×12' HALL LIVING 15'×14' DINING PIT 8'×8' sunken PWDR. FOYER FLEX 11'×14' GARAGE 20'×22' (unconditioned) ENTRY N 42'-0" 20'-0" 30'-0" 0 5 10 ft
Kitchen, bath and bedrooms line the north clerestory band so the whole front of the plan can stay open around the sunken conversation pit at the centre of the house.

The honest number

What it should cost to build.

Site prep + servicesexcavation, utilities to lot line hookups$24,500
Foundationslab or crawlspace, insulated$41,000
Structure + framingpost and beam or conventional, roof structure$65,500
Enveloperoofing, windows + doors, cladding, insulation + air sealing to ACH50 ≤ 1.0$98,500
Mechanical / electrical / plumbingheat pump, HRV, full rough-in + fixtures$74,000
Interior finishesfloors, millwork, kitchen, baths, paint$82,000
GC + contingencysupervision, permits admin, 5% contingency$24,500
Hard cost$410,000

Band $377,000 to $443,000 · $325/sq ft

Cost model v0.1: Okanagan 2026 hard-cost bands from a $/sq ft basis, stated as an estimate, not a quote. Excludes land, design and permit soft costs, and GST. As the House No. 1 build sheet gathers real supplier and trade receipts, receipts replace estimates here, line by line.

Where the money goes further

Small choices that hold the number down.

01Slab-on-grade, no basement

Slab-on-grade, no basement

One pour is the foundation and the finished floor. No basement to dig or to heat.

02One roof, framed simply

One roof, framed simply

A single butterfly form with deep overhangs. The cheaper roof to build and to keep dry.

03Stock materials, standard sizes

Stock materials, standard sizes

Cedar and fibre-cement in the sizes they ship in. Almost nothing is cut to waste.

Life inside

The rooms this plan is for.

Living room under timber frame on stone piers, a full wall of glass to the outside.
Living room under timber frame on stone piers, a full wall of glass to the outside.
An honest kitchen: plywood, butcher block, a window on the yard.
An honest kitchen: plywood, butcher block, a window on the yard.
A sunken conversation pit at the centre.
A sunken conversation pit at the centre.

The details

What you notice up close.

Sunken conversation pit, up close.
Sunken conversation pit, up close.
Clerestory band.
Clerestory band.
Where the roof meets the glass, the light gets in low and long.
Where the roof meets the glass, the light gets in low and long.

Grows when you do

Built small, drawn to expand.

The Butterfly is drawn to grow. A slab pad and a framed opening are set at the start, so another bedroom, a studio, or a suite lands on the side already built for it, with no re-doing what is there.

TodayDay one: a blank end-wall and a slab pad left ready.
Day one: a blank end-wall and a slab pad left ready.
When you need itLater: a matching cedar wing on that pad. Same roof, one more room.
Later: a matching cedar wing on that pad. Same roof, one more room.
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