Mafcohouse

While we have not fully finished our project (very close) I wanted to write a review to help others who might have some questions. This has been a 10-year dream that is coming true. We first saw a Mafcohouse in Dwell magazine back in 2006 when their lake cottage was a feature. Once we saw the design, layout, and placement within the landscape we started to dream about owning our own Mafcohouse. Fast forward many years we finally had a lot to build on to make our dream a reality. We wanted to have a modern interpretation of an old-school cottage. Very functional, not too large (easy to heat in the winter), blend into the landscape, two bedrooms, office, and a bridge :-). Dan and Dianne (Mafcohouse) were able to design us a building that achieved all of our goals. Dan's careful attention to detail and experience has made the the building process straightforward and enjoyable. Mafco is always a phone call away and has been willing to go out of their way to provide excellent service. We feel very lucky to be working with them. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a custom modern build.

We are exceedingly pleased with our Mafco house and found Dan and Diane provided professional support at every stage of development. They worked closely with us in terms of placement of the house on our 9 acres of wilderness to minimize our footprint and maximize our integration with the setting. Dan's concept of wrapping our cottage around existing rock outcroppings was brilliant and his continued efforts to manage the delivery of this concept at every stage was essential for realization. We found both Dan and Diane to be very open to working collaboratively and patiently with us on the design of the cottage, bringing their expertise and experience to bear on our developing vision. The Mafcohouse pre-engineered subunit design enables lower cost through engineering approval and the integration of state of the art construction materials. The cottage is incredibly solid without appearing to be. Our master bedroom with floor to ceiling windows on three walls makes us feel like we are sleeping in a wilderness diorama. We are immensely proud of our Mafcohome, and do not think that such a full realization of our esthetic would have been possible without Dan and Diane.

If you want a modern building with clean lines, low roof lines, and modern style, Mafco is for you. Enjoying the look and feel of Modern architecture, with floor to ceiling windows, wide views and lots of light AND building a Modern building from scratch that delivers on that are two different things. I hired Mafco house (Dan and Dianne) because their portfolio demonstrated to me that we shared the same taste in contemporary design, but also that they had the experience I needed to help me build a water access cottage. The final product was precisely what I wanted. I was, and am, impressed by their knowledge and attention to detail, having built many projects they have clearly ironed out their own best practices and I was able to to tap into that experience when making design decisions. Where they really shined was on service. Everyone has had, or heard of the spotty reliability of designers and contractors once the cheques have been paid. That was not my experience with Mafco. Mafco made several trips to my site to look at the landscape and topography during the design phase, they were on site for the delivery of their product, and they even come back three years later to help fix up small issues with a job by a 3rd party contractor. They are not a general contractor, but Mafco truly is a full service design group that has left me extremely satisfied with building my dream cottage, and the design/build process was an unforgettable adventure.

It is with pleasure that I am writing this review for Mafcohouse. Our cottage is a priceless oasis and we owe that in large part to the clean, simple design of Mafcohouse. We wanted a place that would meld with nature and bring the outside in. Mafcohouse achieved this. By visiting several of their builds, we knew that their design aesthetic paralleled our own. But Dan and Diane were very careful to make sure they understood the particulars of what we were looking for. They met with us several times on site to review site location, design details and discuss details with the contractor. Our cottage lies on the boundaries of a national park. It was extremely important to us that it both blend seamlessly with the environment and have minimal environmental impact. Mafcohouse echoed the importance of this and delivered on both fronts. Everyone who has seen our house is stunned by its beauty and design. I would certainly recommend Mafcohouse without hesitation

We love our Mafcohouse cottage in Haliburton. It was terrific working with the Mafcohouse team of Dan and Diane to take our vacant land and turn it into our family retreat. Mafco totally understood our needs and helped us throughout to make our home both beautiful and functional for family use. The process of building our cottage was made easy by Dan's careful attention to detail and experience. We greatly benefited from and enjoyed their creative input into the design of our cottage. Dan was professional throughout and the quality of the design and materials that they organized was excellent.

Working with Dan and Diane of Mafcohouse was a great experience. We appreciated the opportunity to collaborate on the design to suit our site, our needs, and our preferences. They have a strong aesthetic sense so their design advice was always useful, and their recommendations enhanced the natural beauty of the site and our desire to achieve energy efficiency. They were patient as we adapted and revised the plans. Dan is always prepared to take the time to explain construction methods and advised on materials, including recommending the use of new methods and materials which make the building state of the art. He was also patient in supporting our contractor, who was not familiar with some of the construction methods used, and was very hands on at site visits, beginning with siting the building and continuing through meetings and discussions with contractors and sub's. Mafcohouse ensured that the framing materials were delivered on time, and their installation of the roof, windows and doors was timely. Their level of communication at all stages of our project was stellar. We could not be happier with our lake home, and give Dan and Diane huge credit for helping us to realize the modern building we imagined.

It was evident from our first day snowshoeing on the land and our initial 'doodling' sessions, that Dan and Diane understood our vision for the land and home. The process was open, collaborative and, as importantly, most enjoyable. As a result, we quickly arrived at a design we loved. The structural kit of parts proved to be flexible, and they pushed the boundaries for us to achieve a few key elements. They also accommodated our requests for a higher performing envelope aimed at lower energy reliance, maximizing passive solar gain and minimizing environmental impact. We are pleased with the high quality and solidity of the building as well as the warmth, calm and connection with nature imbued in our home. It wouldn't have happened without their dedication, design savvy and their expertise to get us there.

We love our Mafco House! Mafcohouse was a pleasure to work with. They understood our needs and concerns - everything was exactly how we wanted it. Mafohouse assisted with coordinating deliveries to our water-access location and everything went very smoothly. They were on-hand for all of the critical building phases.

Mafcohouse is great! Their models are modern and flexible. It made it easy to visualize what we had in our mind for a cottage. From planning to completion they provided sound consultation. Most importantly, when things did not go as planned, they took the responsibility to fix things. We are very lucky to have them serve us. Sathi Vanigasooriar

Dan and Diane (Mafco) worked with us to create a little slice of heaven. We had an idea of what kind of building we were looking for, and they worked tirelessly to make it a reality. From the initial concept meeting, right through to completion...they were committed, industrious, patient and open minded. They understood our 'esthetic' immediately, and our need to build a place where the experience was as important as the structure. Originally, we worked with Mafco to simply design our building, but they continued on with us through the permit stages, working with the contractor, the build out, and beyond. The end result was a true realization of our original concept. We could not be more proud of our cottage, and the Mafco team. We would recommend them to absolutely anyone who wants to build a beautiful space. That's exactly what they did for us! A space that is respectful of the environment it shares, of the family that shares it, and a space to build build memories in. Sincerely, Jody Colero and Tracy Thomson

Working with Mafco house, Dan and Diane Molenaar proved to be everything you would want when buidling a home: professional ,cost and lifestyle considerate, flexible and honest.

We absolutely love our Mafcohouse. Not only is the building gorgeous it is rock solid and designed to perfection. We are constantly marvelling at the thoughtful dimensions of the rooms, quality of the materials and the life-altering light. And we are not alone in our appreciation. The buzz in our neighbourhood continues even after a few years of residence. The building provokes lots of curiosity and passion to replicate. If we were doing it all again there's no doubt we would choose Mafcohouse. In fact, we're fantasizing about a bunkie to accommodate all our visitors.