Cedar’s Kin House Huron County, Ohio home images, OH real estate photos

Cedar’s Kin in Huron County, Ohio

April 13, 2026

Architecture: Omar Gandhi Architects

Locations: Huron County, Ohio, USA

Photos by Ema Peter Photography

Cedar’s Kin House, Ohio, USA

Canadian architecture studio, Omar Gandhi Architects, completes hillside home Cedar’s Kin in Huron County. Designed to respond to the natural opportunities and constraints of the topography, Cedar’s Kin is an architecture shaped by its environment, responsive to light, framed by forest, and balanced on the steep terrain characteristic of Lake Huron’s eastern shore.

Defined by stepped forms and measured shifts, the home unfolds as a series of interconnected volumes cascading toward the water, creating a clear spatial sequence. Residents enter at the top of the hill and gradually descend through the home, moving through a layered architectural experience that engages the landscape at multiple elevations.

The residence consists of a main house alongside a series of smaller structures, including a guest cabin and a beach hut, distributing 5,000 sq ft of program area across the site. Designed using the same formal language as the central house, these outbuildings extend the project across the landscape. Each volume subtly rotates to align with existing openings in the tree canopy, framing expansive views of Lake Huron while preserving the integrity of the surrounding forest. These gentle shifts create a rhythmic composition along the slope, with each interior space forming a distinct relationship to light, trees, and water.

“Each program volume rotates to align with existing openings in the tree canopy, framing sweeping views of Lake Huron.” says Omar Gandhi, Founder & Partner. “Gentle shifts and variations establish a rhythm along the slope, with each interior space forming a unique relationship with the surrounding forest.”

Large apertures capture daylight and direct attention outward, offering both filtered glimpses through branches and sweeping panoramas beyond. The result is an architecture that is at once precise and playful, adapting to the terrain while strengthening connections between inside and out. In between the volumes, open terrace spaces project into the forest line, creating a bridge between the interior and canopy.

Material choices further reinforce the project’s calm and cohesive character. The exterior is clad in eastern white cedar, while cedar soffit boards continue seamlessly into interior ceilings paired with oak millwork to create a continuous, enveloping surface.

The interiors are defined by a restrained palette of natural materials, oak millwork and soft furnishings anchor the spaces, introducing warmth and continuity throughout. In the double-height living space, the cedar-lined ceiling draws the eye upward, while vertical glazing introduces shifting patterns of light and shadow that animate the space throughout the day. A sweeping oak staircase connects the levels, guiding movement to the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms. Soft, neutral furnishings and polished concrete floors provide contrast and tactility, allowing the richness of the wood to remain prominent.

“We chose materials that create a sense of calm and cohesion throughout the space. Inside, we grounded the rooms with oak millwork and soft furnishings, bringing warmth and a quiet sense of continuity to everything.” adds John Gray Thomson, Associate.

Environmental sensitivity was central to the design process. Early collaboration with local conservation authorities informed the siting of the home and ensured that interventions work in harmony with the slope. Strategies for tree preservation and erosion reduction were integral, reinforcing a broader commitment to minimizing impact on the site.

Cedar’s Kin House in Huron County, Ohio – Property Information

Architect: Omar Gandhi Architects – https://omargandhi.com/

Structural: Mirkwood Engineering
Mechanical: BK Consulting Inc

About Omar Gandhi Architects

Omar Gandhi Architects (OGA) was founded in 2010, and has design studios in Toronto, Halifax, and Berlin. The internationally honoured architect practice has produced a portfolio of architecture and other designed products for projects ranging from homes and innovative urban in-fills to medium and large-scale public works, and historic landscapes.

OGA’s approach is context-driven, absorbing the physical and environmental characteristics of individual sites, resulting in architecture that boldly reinvents the familiar forms and materials of established building types or settings. These formal and spatial originalities are accentuated by superbly crafted materials and meticulous refinements of architectural detail.

About Omar Gandhi

Omar Gandhi is a Canadian architect known for context-driven, landscape-sensitive design. Born in Toronto and trained at the University of Toronto and Dalhousie University, he founded Omar Gandhi Architects in 2010, later expanding to studios in Halifax, Toronto and Berlin. His work blends regional vernacular forms with contemporary materials and craftsmanship, earning major honours such as the Governor General’s Medal in Architecture, Wallpaper*’s top young architects list, the Architectural League of New York’s “Emerging Voices.” and Omar was named as one of Monocle Magazine’s ‘Most Influential Canadians’. Notable projects include Rabbit Snare Gorge, the Lookout at Broad Cove Marsh, Prime Seafood Palace (Matty Matheson restaurant) and the Peggy’s Cove viewing deck.