My Houzz: Polished Urban Sanctuary in Toronto
Suited perfectly to its working-class downtown neighborhood, an engineer's modern home is an airy and spacious retreat
I'm a Houzz home tour contributor and I work for a Toronto-based architectural design firm, Roundabout Studio.
You can view some of my non-architectural photography at http://www.flickr.com/andrew_snow
Thanks for looking!
I'm a Houzz home tour contributor and I work for a Toronto-based architectural... More »
Set on the site of an old steel shop, this modern home in Toronto, Ontario, is an unexpected retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city. Although the house is on a busy semi-industrial stretch of street, its design creates a buffer from the outside noise. Honoring the steel shop's legacy, Valentina Nedelcu and her partner, Steven Bugler, kept the original shop at the back of the site and crafted a new home clad in Cor-Ten steel, one of the shop owner's favorite materials. The couple worked with Setless Studio to design a simple and iconic structure that still paid tribute to its industrial roots. Bugler, a talented millworker and the owner of Radiant City Millwork, custom built all of the home's beautifully crafted wood fixtures.
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Dupont West neighborhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Size: 1,600 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
That's interesting: A large portion of the house materials were fabricated by Bugler in the original old steel shop at the back of the property.
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Dupont West neighborhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Size: 1,600 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
That's interesting: A large portion of the house materials were fabricated by Bugler in the original old steel shop at the back of the property.
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| A white oak slatted staircase cuts through the ground floor, creating a partial divide between the kitchen and the living room. Although there are floor-to-ceiling windows at both ends of the house and an open floor plan, the ground floor still has intimate corners in which to relax. The red Saarinen Womb Chair is Nedelcu's favorite piece of furniture — it's where she spends many winter days curled up reading. Womb Chair: Knoll; side chair: LC1, Cassina |
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| The house has a limited material palette, so the focus is on texture and detailing. Almost all the built-in millwork is crafted from walnut with a complex grain pattern. The millwork in this shot conceals ducts, columns, wine storage and even the front door. One section of open storage provides a focal point for the living room, holding part of Nedelcu's extensive book collection and other curated objects. Lounge: Barcelona Chair, Knoll |
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| The eclectic mix of furnishings runs the gamut from midcentury design classics to Ikea. Each piece was purchased because Nedelcu loved the design; she wasn't necessarily thinking about the room it might end up in. Even so, a cohesive theme emerges: Mostly black and white pieces are offset by pops of red and chrome. Chaise: LC4, Cassina |
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| Bisecting the house, the stairwell acts as a light box for the ground floor, pulling sun into the middle of a long floor plan. The central stair makes access to the upper rooms much easier than in many other Toronto homes, and it maximizes the home's small footprint. |
The stair draws light in from a large west-facing window and skylight. Over the course of the day, the play of shadows across the floors and walls is mesmerizing.
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| The second-floor bedroom faces the old steel shop and an alleyway. The location gives it some privacy while still including the floor-to-ceiling windows found throughout the house. All of the rooms on this floor feel intensely removed from the street, as the beautiful sapele-framed windows are filled with the skies of Toronto's changing seasons. Nedelcu loves the contact with the sky and the feeling of isolation it brings, even in such a traffic-heavy part of the city. Armchair: Poang, Ikea; bed: Malm, Ikea |
Different finishes from the rest of the house help the bathroom feel like its own retreat. Carrara marble walls are paired with a teak vanity and floor for a spalike look. Part of the floor has open gaps between the slats, with the shower drain hidden underneath. This creates a visually seamless look and allows the freestanding bathtub to be a focal point.
Bugler specializes in doors and windows, so he made sure that the few doors in the house are showstoppers. These doors stretch from floor to ceiling and are made from walnut with an inset walnut casing. They are satisfyingly heavy and feel engineered to perfection.
Nedelcu's favorite room in the house is the library. Walnut shelving holds most of her large literature collection, including many engineering textbooks. A view of the trees outside gives the room a soothing feel. "You pull the curtains and green fills the space," Nedelcu says. The Stickley-style chair features many impressive woodworking joints and was custom made by Bugler in his shop.
The slats in the stairway become an abstract canvas when viewed from above. Because the slats overlap differently from different angles, the staircase takes on a shifting, dynamic quality.
Due to a busy work schedule, Nedelcu opted against a formal dining area, preferring the quick and casual nature of bar seating. This decision enabled the architect to allot more space to the kitchen and living areas. Meanwhile, the front courtyard is just steps away and functions as an exterior dining room during the warm Toronto summers.
In the kitchen, walnut is combined with Baltic birch countertops and the same Carrara marble as in the bathroom to form a highly textured but thoroughly modern palette.
The wonderfully engineered doors slide open to bring light and air through the entire house. Milled out of sapele wood to withstand the elements, they were manufactured just one block away at Bugler's millworking shop.
To maximize privacy and minimize car noise, the architect pushed the house back as far as he could on the narrow lot. This allowed for a small courtyard that acts as a buffer between the traffic and the house. The trees cut down on noise suprisingly well, offering a green oasis in the heart of the city.
Since the front of the building is obscured by the courtyard, the Cor-Ten-covered side acts as the visual front of the house. Visible from the street, the side elevation is a perfect reminder of the craft past and present that went into making this house the success that it is.
Houzz call: Do you have a creative, modern home? Share it with us!
Houzz call: Do you have a creative, modern home? Share it with us!
Comments
Jamieson What a great city property to call home! Love the custom detailing and millwork, thanks for the great article!
13 months ago · Like
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aeykelbo Hmm... that IS one amazing staircase...
13 months ago · Like
Josephine Julian I like the design and it looks completely relaxing...
13 months ago · Like
nrolli7183 what type of wood is used on the floors?
13 months ago · Like
Laurel Ennis Very nice, but next time spring for a place with a view.
13 months ago · Like
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Andy Awesome!!... clever ideas, really like the bathroom design and the stairs..
13 months ago · Like
sheik How are the slates in the stairway fixed to the floor ??
13 months ago · Like
Sharon I love the staircase. It would be tedious to dust the slats but an easy tedious task, a twice a year task. I had open stairs at one time and the dirt from your shoes does get cast down below the stairs. But I still LOVE this stairway!
13 months ago · Like
franki7 Creative GENIUS!! franki
13 months ago · Like
losie Love this mix of cool chromes and warm textured woods.A fantastic well appointed space .Love the stairwell,its a piece of art its own.Beautiful.
13 months ago · Like
Rosalie Katzman_Wieldt the stairway of windows view is pretty sad; a run down building to look at??????
13 months ago · Like
paliving Would love to know the name of the couch and who makes it. Tks. Penney...
13 months ago · Like
jcw interiors I would raise the picture above the sofa about 4-6" and get rid of those curtains that don't fit those windows.
13 months ago · Like
olechka22 Gorgeous apartment, but how unfortunate is it that no matter how beautiful you can make the interior, you can't change the view out of your windows.
13 months ago · Like
crayons Nice woodwork, but the article is a little much... sounds like it was written by a real estate agent with a designer pocket thesaurus
13 months ago · Like
lydlyd Love the picture in the Living Room 3/11. Any idea where I can find it?
13 months ago · Like
Fine Art & Portraits by Laurel The cor-ten steel siding may be an industrial reference, but all that walnut is high end luxury. Quite beautiful.
12 months ago · Like
idacecala A diamond in the rough!!
10 months ago · Like
miesbarcelonachair Loving the design, inparticular the lounge, can't beat a good reproduction of a Mies's Barcelona Chair
7 months ago · Like
Ideabook published on June 5, 2012.
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