Southall Residence, Cambridge, Ontario real estate, building photos, Canadian architecture
Southall Residence in Cambridge, Ontario
August 22, 2025
Architects: NEO Architecture Inc.
Location: Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Photos by Riley Snelling
Southall Residence, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Located within a well-established residential neighbourhood in Cambridge, this 5,000-square-foot residence was designed for a couple seeking a home that would support both their private daily lives and their desire to host guests and larger gatherings. The design responds to this dual requirement by organising the house into a series of distinct yet interconnected volumes, each serving a specific role in the domestic program. The result is a residence that offers moments of intimacy and retreat while also providing generous, fluid spaces for entertaining and communal engagement.
The architectural composition is defined by five gabled forms clad in locally sourced stone. These volumes are arranged across the site in a fragmented yet intentional manner, creating a rhythmic procession of masses that break down the overall scale of the house and embed it more comfortably within the residential fabric. Each gabled form contains a unique programmatic element—such as the kitchen, living areas, bedrooms, and guest suites—allowing the home to function as a series of interrelated pavilions rather than a singular monolithic structure.
This fragmentary approach is inspired by the typology of rural agrarian settlements, where clusters of buildings serve different uses but maintain visual and spatial cohesion. The gabled roofs and stone cladding evoke the archetype of the Ontario barn, reinterpreted here in a refined, contemporary language. This strategy not only ties the residence to the regional vernacular but also brings a sense of timelessness and material permanence to the project.
Connecting these five primary volumes are a series of low, flat-roofed links, glazed on both sides to form a cloister-like promenade around a central courtyard. These transitional spaces serve as both literal and figurative connectors—facilitating circulation while providing framed views of the landscape and curated moments of light and shadow throughout the day. The courtyard, defined by the surrounding architecture, acts as an outdoor room and visual anchor, offering both serenity and a sense of inward focus.
The primary arrival sequence is marked by a pair of monumental stone fireplaces that stand sentry at the approach to the home. These elements frame the threshold to the central great room, the heart of the residence and its most public space. With its generous volume, vaulted ceiling, and strong material presence, the great room serves as a gathering space that is simultaneously grounded and expansive. The fireplaces themselves provide not only warmth but also a tectonic clarity that reinforces the architectural narrative of mass and lightness.
Throughout the project, careful attention is paid to the thresholds between public and private, enclosed and open, heavy and transparent. The use of natural materials—stone, wood, and glass—grounds the house in its context while enhancing the experiential qualities of each space. Light is treated as an architectural material, animating the interiors and providing a constantly shifting dialogue between the built form and the natural environment.
This residence is ultimately a study in contrasts—of fragmentation and unity, tradition and modernity, shelter and openness. It offers a domestic landscape that is both functional and poetic, rooted in place yet expansively livable.
Southall Residence in Cambridge, Ontario real estate – Building Information
Architects: NEO Architecture Inc. – https://neoarchitecture.ca/home/, Laird Robertso
Project size: 5000 ft2
Completion date: 2010
Building levels: 1
Photographer: Riley Snelling
Southall Residence, Cambridge, Ontario real estate images / information received 220825
Location: Cambridge, Regional Municipality of Waterloo, southwestern Ontario, Canada, North America.
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