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Most properties we saw had problems, such as proximity to a highway or railway,which I feared would produce too much noise and pollution. Others were too big ortoo barren. Having some trees to protect the home from the cold north windsseemed essential to the natural landscape I had in mind. We were looking for a goodsouthern exposure and some mature trees, which would shelter the home from coldbreezes.The search for the perfect property seemed fruitless. For the budget we had theredid not seem to be a property that had the right natural features. Finally, oneweekend we walked through about one hundred feet of forest to find a beautifulwild grass filled hill sloping south. The land was rough with rocks and many youngpine trees. A row of trees was also fairly established along the back fence. Thismight be it, we thought.We visited the site many times in order to get a sense for its natural qualities throughthe changing seasons. In the winter the land was more visible and provided greatviews to the south. The southern exposure was amazing. From the very south endof the property we could see for milesinto Toronto , the big city.We made a couple of unsuccessful bids on the lot, but the owner was holding outfor a h igher price that was slightly over our budget. Before making a third, higherbid, we met with Martin Liefhebber the architect of the Toronto Healthy House, toask if he would work with us to design our home. Martin was eager to see the site tomake sure it provided some of the natural features we would need. This would behis first project in the country, but he knew what to look for. For Martin it wasperfect, because of the protective tree cover on the north, open exposure to thesouth for sunlight, gentle slopes for great views, some protective trees to the eastand west, and natural swales for water drainage.In summer the woodlot on the north 100-200 feet of the property provided nicecool breezes, and a sound and dust barrier from the sometimes busy dirt road. Inthe winter we found the roadside about 5-10 degrees colder than south of thewoodlot, where we planned to build the house. We visited the property severaltimes before deciding that it was the right one. As Martin would later say, he wantedto use the local environment and the design of the house to extend the seasons,summer into fall and spring into winter. That all seemed to be possible by locatingthe house on the north east portion of the property near the top of the highestpoint, but just south of our pine woodlot, essentially nestled into the trees.213