Photos: 6 Inspiring Cantilevered Houses

Cantilevered houses have been captivating homeowners ever since Frank Llyod Wright introduced the concept in the 1930s. With overhanging rooms that appear to defy gravity, a cantilevered home is both daring and dramatic—and today’s architects are only continuing to push the limits with this structural feature. Keep on scrolling to see what we mean.

A modern summer home on the shores of Cultus Lake

The interior of this home is soft and serene—Alexis Callegari of Stae Interiors finished it with neutral tones, gentle curves and soft light. But the exterior is sharp and striking, and it’s mostly thanks to the 10-metre cantilevered floor. “There’s a sense of wonder when you see it,” says Steven Cross of X Architecture. “There’s a lot of engineering that we did to make that happen, I think very successfully.”

A spectacular Whistler chalet that celebrates the great outdoors

Have you always wondered what it would be like to live in a tree house? This McKinley Studios-designed home should give you a pretty good idea. Its cantilevered living room hovers above the landscape, offering incredible forest views. “When you’re there, you’re floating,” says architect Walker McKinley.

A dramatic and vibrant West Vancouver home

A cantilevered section doesn’t just provide this McLeod Bovell-designed home with a stunning exterior. It also acts as a privacy screen to the neighbour on the high western side, looks out over stunning vistas and lends a bit of shade to the pool.

A bright and beautiful West Vancouver bungalow

This West Van bungalow may not be suspended over a cliff like some of the other homes we’ve included here—but that doesn’t make its cantilever (which hangs just a couple feet over the front yard) any less impressive. Nigel Parish of Splyce Design used the structural technique to gain a little extra square footage in the living room.

A cliffside family home on Bowen Island

Genevieve Poirier and David Arnott of STARK Architecture & Interiors know what it takes to turn a challenge (in this case, a 450-square-foot lot) into an opportunity (a 2,800-square-foot home with breathtaking ocean views).

“The only way to build something on this piece of land would be to cantilever it off,” explains Poirier—so that’s exactly what they did. Twice. The lower volume of the home was pinned into the bedrock and cantilevered 23 feet out; the upper volume, rotated 90 degrees and centred on top of the lower one, has a dramatic 30-foot cantilever.

A glass and concrete studio in the Okanagan

Homeowner Ian MacDonald and Ply Architecture’s Arnold Chan were determined to bring their vision of a cantilever studio to life—they even sourced a specialized drilling system that would help them stabilize the ground with 13-metre-deep, 28-inch-diameter concrete piers. “If it’s insane, I’ll usually get it done,” says McDonald.