CITIE HOME TOUR DOES THE WHOLE SONG AND DANCE
It’s Citie Ballet’s version of a pas de cinq — a dance for five. But the classical ballet term takes on a new twist next weekend as Edmonton’s local ballet company finds itself choreographing a design effort that spotlights five of the city’s most fashionable homes.
“We want to represent the diversity of Edmontonians’ varying esthetics and design choices,” Citie Ballet executive director Sheri Somerville said of the upcoming Citie Ballet Home Tour, which does double duty as a ballet fundraiser. “The homes on the tour are all wonderful and different.”
This year’s tour, being held Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, showcases five homes spread across the city located in Allard, Bonnie Doon, Garneau, Highlands and Strathcona.
The tour is also being held later in the year than usual, to coincide with Edmonton Design Week.
“We had a conversation with Economic Development Edmonton about joining their first edition of Edmonton Design Week and we thought it was a great idea,” Somerville said of the new citywide event, which was created to celebrate design talent and innovation across all disciplines and runs until Sept. 30.
While the Highlands house shines a light on preservation and historical character — the original hand-painted linen wallpaper has been maintained by its successive owners — and the Garneau custom home is filled with treasures from Asia and the Middle East, the Bonnie Doon offering provides a glimpse of what can be done when family members come together and use their creativity to reinvent the classic duplex.
Built in 2013 by Ewa and Andrew Harbinson (the owners of Metro Enterprises, which specializes in building infill homes in mature neighbourhoods), the two-storey Bonnie Doon duplex was a family affair. While Ewa and Andrew served as general contractors on the project, it was Andrew ’s father who provided some of the impetus.
“Dad kind of drove the bus to get it going,” Andrew said. “He worked with the designer to start the whole thing.”
This “unconventional duplex,” as Ewa calls it, is atypical in that the two units are not the traditional side-by-side duplex build. The duplex is larger on one side — at about 2,700 square feet — where Ewa, Andrew and their three young children reside. The other side of the house, measuring about 1,400 square feet, is where Andrew’s parents live when they’re not travelling.
Tour the two units and you can see why Ewa calls it a puzzle home — the two sides fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle to form one larger structure.
Ewa and her family have their open-concept living, dining and kitchen space in the back of their unit, and there’s a second floor for their master bedroom and the three kids’ bedrooms, which extend over the main floor of the second unit.
The second unit houses Andrew’s parents, who opted for a bungalow build that is more suited to their lifestyle. The main floor layout is reversed in the smaller unit, with the living, dining and kitchen area in the front of the house.
Each side of the house also reflects the taste of the homeowners. Ewa and Andrew opted for a clean, modern look with a large concrete island in the kitchen, a co-ordinated concrete coffee table in the living room and a vertical concrete clock as an accent. Cross over to the other side and the feel switches to a more traditional style.
Both units have large finished basements. A small custom wine cellar is the highlight on Andrew ’s parents’ side. It’s totally different in Andrew and Ewa’s unit, where children rule the day with a unique built-in playhouse and an adjacent play zone.
“We’re very pleased to be a part of the tour,” said Ewa, adding that the couple have been longtime supporters of the arts, especially dance.
“I’m originally from Poland, and took up dance shortly after coming to Canada. Both our girls also dance: They’re ages seven and eight and are members of Kujawiak Polish Children’s Dance Society. I dance with Polonez Polish Folk Arts Ensemble, and just came back from Poland from an international dance festival where we represented Canada.”
Happy to open their doors to others to show the type of work their company does, Ewa adds that it’s important to help Citie Ballet with their fundraising efforts. “The idea to join the tour was brought to us by one of our sub-trades and we just thought it was a good opportunity for everyone.”
Rounding out the tour, the Allard site offers another take on a modern home. Somerville calls it a cool suburban space that is “very European with very clean lines,” while the Strathcona home features modern updated finishes while managing to keep the house’s original feel.
“Arts grants only make up about one-sixth of our operating budget,” Somerville said, noting that funds raised from this year’s tour will be added to the ballet company’s operating budget. “Each season, we create three productions with six new works. We need to fundraise and seek sponsorships for the rest.”