¼C Modern ✳

The catalog · No. 04 · Version 2

The Backyard

Gable pavilion built around the yard: pool, swing set, dinner outside. 3 bed and 2 bath, 1,380 square feet. Small, honest, tight.

Version 2 · Cedar lakeside The same gable pavilion and glass prow, re-skinned in warm cedar on a dry Okanagan hillside lot. Same plan, same number. See the original →

The Backyard design study render
Study No. 04 · 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 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.

Program3 bed · 2 bath
Floor area1,380 sq ft · 1 storey
StructureConventional frame, exposed ridge
RoofSymmetric gable, thin eave
EnvelopeStep Code 5 target · ACH50 ≤ 1.0, blower-door verified
Signatureplunge pool · slatted-screen patio · play lawn

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.

BED 3 12'×10' BED 2 12'×11' BATH CL CL HALL KITCHEN 8'×14' DINING 10'×14' LIVING 18'×16' ENSUITE 8'×8' WIC LAUNDRY BED 1 13'×13' PATIO slatted screen PLUNGE POOL 14'×8' PLAY LAWN ENTRY N 46'-0" 30'-0" 0 5 10 ft
Two bedroom wings bracket a glass gable living hall that slides open to the yard, with the slatted screen patio, plunge pool and play lawn arranged as three outdoor rooms.

The honest number

What it should cost to build.

Site prep + servicesexcavation, utilities to lot line hookups$26,500
Foundationslab or crawlspace, insulated$44,500
Structure + framingpost and beam or conventional, roof structure$71,000
Enveloperoofing, windows + doors, cladding, insulation + air sealing to ACH50 ≤ 1.0$107,000
Mechanical / electrical / plumbingheat pump, HRV, full rough-in + fixtures$80,000
Interior finishesfloors, millwork, kitchen, baths, paint$89,000
GC + contingencysupervision, permits admin, 5% contingency$26,500
Hard cost$445,000

Band $409,500 to $480,500 · $322/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 symmetric gable 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.

The details

What you notice up close.

Plunge pool, up close.
Plunge pool, up close.
Slatted-screen patio.
Slatted-screen patio.
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 Backyard 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.

Versions

Same plan, different skin.

The Backyard — original version
V1 Original
The Backyard — version 2, Cedar lakeside
V2 Cedar lakeside · you are here
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