Even in the face of a late winter storm, trucks and cars drive a steady beat along Route 16, the corridor of blacktop connecting mainland New Brunswick with the Confederation Bridge. East of this arterial road, the relentless rhythm of wheels gives way to a quieter melody of mixed farming, salt marshes and the sandy beaches of New Brunswick’s Upper Cape where, in the hours before the storm arrives, there is a beautiful quality of silence at the beach house built by documentary filmmaker Peter d’Entremont and his wife, Corinna Peveling.
Building this dream house was a journey that began in 2001 with weekend trips around Nova Scotia and PEI to look for land. After two years of searching, they had almost abandoned hope of finding anything both suitable and affordable. Rather than give up the quest, they packed their cats, dogs, a pet rat and a goldfish into an iconic Airstream trailer and went looking for land south of the border. “We covered a lot of territory,” recalls Peter, “but nothing that was as nice as the Maritimes.”
Upon returning to their home in New Brunswick, they found a property that exceeded even their dreams: 70 acres of land on a 1.6 kilometre beach surrounded by marshlands. To the east is the open water of the Atlantic: to the west a dune-sheltered bay. You can walk for hours without seeing another person or leaving the property.
“It has the feel of a nature preserve,” says d’Entremont, “especially when the waterfowl inhabit the marshes in preparation for their migration south.”
After purchasing the land, the couple spent two years deciding how to proceed, exploring possibilities for alternative energy, and eco-friendly construction. An ethos of sustainability and social responsibility comes naturally to them both. His film company, Triad Film Productions Ltd., specializes in documentaries. She initiated a feral cat spay and neuter operation in the Maritimes. Although the scale and style of the beach house they built may have deviated from the simple retreat they initially conceived, there has been no deviation in the determination to go as green as they could. “It’s about making ethical decisions,” says Peveling, whose advertising background has taught her that everything is consumer-driven. “Things are connected. You cast your vote every day with the goods that you purchase.”
The first vote that she and d’Entremont cast during the planning process was on whether to go off-grid. After consulting a solar specialist and an engineer, they decided that available technology had not yet evolved to the point where it made either economic or lifestyle sense to invest entirely in alternative energy. “It would have meant a lot of sacrifices at a much higher cost,” says d’Entremont. “We weren’t prepared to be that limited by the power we use.”
Instead they tied into the power grid, tapping into the heat generated by the earth’s core with geothermal in-floor heat. On both levels of the beach house, in-floor piping is covered with a generous thickness of concrete providing a thermal mass that retains the passive solar energy from a south-facing wall of windows. D’Entremont admits that geothermal heating will take years to pay for itself, but considers it an investment in a viable heat source. “We didn’t want to be tied to the international aspects of oil.”
While debating energy sources, d’Entremont and Peveling used Lego blocks to build three-dimensional models of their future beach house. The design was driven by the qualities of the property as well as concerns about storm surges, global warming and flooding.
“We live in a low-lying area that’s susceptible to the tides,” says d’Entremont. “It made sense to build a second floor.” When they were ready to commit to a design they hired a draftsman and continued their modifications on paper. The next step was arranging a bedrock analysis because the proposed building site was wet and swampy. After several drill holes, the results were positive and environment officials issued the approval required for a building permit.
Construction began in August, 2007. Many of the materials used are “locally grown” from within a 100-kilometre radius of the building site. Much of the wood comes from New Brunswick. The exterior “skin” is from Maine. The windows are manufactured at the Atlantic Windows plant in nearby Port Elgin. The heat pump for the geothermal unit is also made in New Brunswick.
D’Entremont and Peveling made it their business to research and find the greenest products available, even if it meant stretching the local suppliers and demanding alternatives to traditional building techniques and materials. “We wanted to know where things came from and whether we could add value by using sustainability as a frame,” says d’Entremont.
In the first of many conscious efforts to avoid the carbon footprint of long-distance hauling, he and Peveling excavated 50 truckloads of soil from their property and used it to raise the elevation of the site. Rather than leave a scar on the landscape, they filled the resulting hole by ditching to re-route water that runs through the area. Then they purchased 500 trout from Miramichi Fish Hatchery, added them to the new pond, and installed a 22-foot aluminum wind turbine to oxygenate the water.
“It has been a big enterprise,” d’Entremont says, “but it regenerated an eco-system here. We now have more insect and bird varieties as well as beaver, otter and muskrat.”
The beach house sits on the tip of the property at the end of a circuitous, kilometre-long, dirt driveway that d’Entremont likens to a decompression zone. “This is our separation from the normal world. It takes us to another space.” Marsh, forest, sand and water surround this other space, contributing to a tranquil retreat that d’Entremont and Peveling affectionately refer to as “Marsh Mellow”.
“The beach house property reconnects us to the natural world,” says d’Entremont. “It replaces therapy and medication with a feel-good perspective that only nature can provide.”
A modest main entrance opens to the first storey of the building. On this level there is no actual living space—just a garage, storage areas, a small bathroom, a mechanical room, a closed-in deck and a shallow, 12’ X 14’ soaking pool inspired by some therapeutic hot springs discovered while vacationing in Nevada. Geothermal heat maintains the temperature in the pool at around 102.2F (39c) and water is treated with an ion generator to eliminate the need for chemicals like chlorine. Dramatic shades of gray begin with the unfinished concrete floor and extend to the 10” X 10” gray slate wall tiles. Floor-to-ceiling windows look toward the dunes.
Galvanized metal stairs with lighted risers lead to the second floor, which is positioned to take advantage of the commanding water views. From this vantage point you can see along the New Brunswick shoreline and across to Nova Scotia. In the distance there is the vague shadow of PEI. D’Entremont describes this floor as his sanctuary. He comes here every day to write and is currently working on a daily journal of his 59th year.
The second floor has a bathroom, bedroom, sunroom, meditation space, kitchen, and a full-length living room with a stainless steel, propane stove. Electrical wiring for the TV and computer is concealed in a separate closet and accessed by infrared remotes. Flooring on this level is natural bamboo, a sustainable product that grows quickly. Most of the bamboo flooring available locally is treated with chemicals and stains that cause off-gases, so d’Entremont and Peveling purchased a special, untreated product. The loft space above has a built-in bed and plenty of breath-taking views. You can look through the metal grate flooring to the second floor below.
Although the beach house is essentially finished, there are still some things to be done. The next two projects are a meditation garden that is planned as the spiritual centre for the property and a greenhouse garden that will be irrigated with water pumped from a second pond. “They both hold promise for nourishment,” says d’Entremont. “The greenhouse is the priority for this spring although the meditation garden is the more valued project. It will provide a special outdoor space to think and reflect.”
For now this thinking and reflection is best done in the warmth of the beach house. Spring comes late to New Brunswick’s Upper Cape, and while 500 juvenile trout perform the remarkable feat of surviving under the ice, d’Entremont prepares to document the impact of the approaching storm. The solitude of this place obscures the memories of the late 1800s when the Upper Cape was a thriving community; at the same time it nurtures Peter d’Entremont’s creative spirit.
And as the first gentle flakes begin to fall, he begins to write.