The Rear Facade of The Turks and Caicos Villa
The Turks and Caicos Villa design by Jesse Sahlani is here and today we wanted to highlight a few of our
favorite features of the rear facade design. This home was designed for a prestigious lakefront lot in
Burlington, ON, and because of the direct connection to nature it quickly became a project that we are
particularly proud of. Our excitement around this is rooted in how large, secluded, unique, and relaxingly
luxurious a lot like this can be, allowing Jesse to exploratively design this home with very little restrictions.
The white facade and “L” shaped footprint characterizes the exterior and interior living spaces in a way
that is reminiscent of being on a tropical vacation, though the pool that is accessible from almost every
area of the main floor plan helps too.
This design is a great example of Jesse’s well-known flare when designing the rear facade of his homes,after all this facade is a designers biggest tool to characterize the rear entertaining environment. In thiscase, Jesse employs far more glass at the rear than that of the front facade, as he sought to prioritizeviews of the lake in as many rooms as possible. To achieve this he designed large accordion doors oneither side of the ground floor plan, creating an incredibly wide retractable wall section that makes theexterior entertainment area an extension of the living room. The result is that every room on the groundfloor is seamlessly offered access to the pool, tanning lounge, and outdoor kitchen during the summermonths.
A raised concrete pool deck creates the ultimate outdoor entertainment space that directly overlooks the
lake as a function of its raised elevation. Jesse wrapped the patio with specifically designed gardens,
intentionally surrounding guests with lush greenery that beautifully frames views of Lake Ontario. To
Jesse, the natural beauty of the lake is prominent at all times of year and any time of day, and his design
sought to maximize enjoyment of that unique experience regardless of the weather or light conditions.
This intention heavily shaped the floors plans of course, but also shaped the window design for the better
as well. The end result is that South facing natural light is optimally harnessed into almost every room of
the house for several hours a day.
As always, Jesse has also designed a full exterior lighting plan for the home that includes the use of
wall washers and other architectural lighting applications to highlight different features of the
structure itself, as well as the rear planters and tree uplighting. One of our favorite features is the
pool lighting that highlights the unique custom pool liner. Features of this nature add a thoughtful and
intentional detail that makes the design feel complete. The result is the creation of an entirely
different setting for entertaining in the evening.
