Halfway Hill House is a 950ft² two-storey wood frame house perched upon a steeply sloping site in Port Rexton on the Bonavista Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada.
Compact and energy efficient, this small house was designed to provide large views of Trinity Bay in the North Atlantic Ocean. An open living / kitchen / dining area makes up the entire top floor while the lower level consists of two bedrooms with bath. Each lower level bedroom has access to an exterior wood deck with views to the ocean.
Project Name: Halfway Hill House
Studio Name: Woodford Architecture
Location: Port Rexton NL, Canada
Photography: Jane Brokenshire
Project size: 950 ft2
Completion date: 2020
Building levels: 2
The entry to the house is framed and protected from the strong Newfoundland winds by a wood storage shed with deck above. The view framed by this covered entrance is of Fox Island in Trinity Bay.
The view to the Trinity Lighthouse is highlighted as well from the dining area window located directly above the entrance. The upper deck offers sweeping views of the entire Trinity Bay area in the dramatic North Atlantic. From there you can see the communities of West Champney’s, Port Rexton and Trinity.
Playing off of the dense surrounding forest the exterior walls are constructed of “Soot” coloured pre-painted pine cladding on an exterior wood stud wall with spray foam insulation. The windows are of durable wood construction with doubled glazing and black exterior fibreglass cladding.
A charcoal coloured standing seam metal roof completes the exterior envelope providing a contrast in texture from the wood siding. Exterior decks are natural cedar.
Interior finishes are almost all local to the island with white painted spruce walls and ceilings, and natural stained black spruce flooring. A light grey tile is used in the lower foyer, and in the bathroom and powder room. Kitchen cabinetry was custom built from clear stained birch plywood, also sourced locally.
