A prefabricated cabin designed by Montreal-based Ménard Dworkind is the first in a series of luxe rental retreats being construted by a young tech entrepreneur. Photo by David Dworkind
If God is said to be in the details, then Ménard Dworkind Architecture & Design has lavished their concept for a cabin retreat with blessings. On first glance, Hinterhouse?a modernist, nature-adjacent answer to Airbnb?may look like a simple rectangular box, and it is. But zoom in and you?ll discover details, treatments and storage solutions that are far from standard. They might even have the weekend renter wishing they could move in.
The cedar-clad Hinterhouse was conceived for a young tech entrepreneur who wanted a country house for himself. He?d been looking at prefabs from a Quebec company, but when he realized the level of interior customization was limited, he turned to Montreal-based Ménard Dworkind to design a home. He wanted it to be prefabricated, so that he could use one as his personal cabin, and sell others to the public. When the pandemic hit, the client instead saw an opportunity in renting his 100-square-metre cabin to nature-starved city folk. (He?s since invested in the design and construction of a second cabin, with plans to continue adding to the series of one-of-a-kind rental retreats.) Because the design phase of Hinterhouse was a bit like getting all dressed up with no place to go?there was a brief for a two-bedroom cabin, but no building site?David Dworkind, the...