Located in Upper Kingsburg, Nova Scotia, Morgan Gatehouse is a seasonal guest house at the public face of a hillside property. A humble 816 SF dwelling – the structure acts as a gate, or threshold, providing passage and procession from the road to the rest of the land and future primary residence.

Upon arrival, the building spans across the access to the property. A breezeway provides passage through the form, shelter for the entry, and delineation between the residence proper and the service spaces across the way.

Inside, the 2 ½ bedroom residence takes advantage of an upside-down scheme. The cellular nature of the bedrooms and bathroom on the lower level support the open expanse of the great room on the main level, which benefits in turn from the cathedral ceiling of the gable roof. This scheme allows the social areas to feel open and welcoming, with the private spaces amore secluded retreat down into the ground.

This seasonal home frames expansive views to the sea below, while the orientation gestures to the long axis of the village road draped across the drumlin landscape. The building’s austere materiality, exposed concrete and galvanized metal exterior, acts as a shell meant to weather the rugged coastal conditions characteristic of the region. Scribed to the landscape, the modest structure nestles into the slope much like the glacial erratics deposited on the drumlin from tens of thousands of years ago.

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