Light-toned cedar boards wrap around this lake house in Ontario, by American firm Lazor Office, which comprises two volumes that face the water and are joined at their corners.

The waterfront Kiss House overlooks Rainy Lake, a relatively large freshwater body that shares borders with Minnesota and the Canadian province.

Lazor Office constructed the residence using a prefabricated design based on a kiss line, where the two main units meet at a point.

In addition to the V-shaped layout, a detached garage with a pickling area and walled-in vegetable garden complete the project.

The various timber structures are linked together with outdoor decking and form a triangular courtyard at the core. A large hole in the middle exposes the rocky forest floor.

"At the 'kiss line' between two prefabricated modules, the lineal form of the house snaps like a branch held together only by bark," said the studio. "The open break forms a V-shaped outdoor room facing the water."

Kiss House comprises a set of rectangular units with flat roofs that have been wrapped in horizontal cedar boards. Based in Minneapolis, Lazor Office worked with Stratford Homes – a modular housing manufacturer in Wisconsin – to build the project.

"The site is on a remote island in Canada, making shipping construction materials to the site challenging," said Lazor Office. "The house was prefabricated in two pieces, shipped to the site, and set in place via crane."

The entire structure rests on a set of piers placed onto bedrock, where topsoil has been removed to expose to rocky coastline.

The entrance is though a glass encasement where the two main timber units meet, created to look "as though the surface has begun to tear at the kiss line".

On one side of the house is a kitchen, with a counter positioned slightly back from the windows that boast expansive lake views. A slab of back-cut soapstone in the shape of an oval serves as both a dining table and a kitchen island.

This portion of the house also contains a small sitting area with a fireplace, a reading nook and a master suite. Polished teak is used on the walls and ceiling of the master bathroom, as well as on its bathroom countertop, sink and free-standing bathtub.

The adjacent unit comprises a large play room, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. A separate steam room and mud room complete this portion of the house. Both halves have large outdoor decks for entertaining on the lake front.

Photography is by Peter VonDeLinde.