WHERE CREATIVITY THRIVES
Little Burgundy drew ‘homegrown girl’
Olivia Pipe describes herself as a “homegrown girl.” She grew up on the South Shore, but as an adult she has lived all over the city. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Côte-St-Luc, Verdun and Westmount are just some of the neighbourhoods she has called home.
She has also packed a lot of living into her 30 years. At Concordia she earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Fine Arts (focusing on studio art) and for a while was a PhD student, specializing in art history.
After graduation, she ended up in a corporate job, which she didn’t enjoy, got married and subsequently divorced. Nowadays, the multitalented Pipe makes a living as an artist, writer and musician. She has ended up living in Little Burgundy in a triplex full of creative people. Pipe occupies the top floor. Her downstairs neighbours are a designer and a video producer.
The building was constructed in 1876 and was once a singlefamily dwelling occupied by a local mayor, but it has long since been divided into apartments.
Pipe’s abode, which she shares with a cat and a budgie, comprises two closed bedrooms, a double living room, a sizable bathroom (one of the things that sold her on the place) and a largish kitchen (another feature she loves).
The apartment also has two balconies — one at the front of the building and one at the back.
Q After living in so many neighbourhoods, how did you end up here? A It was more or less by chance. A friend of mine was vacating this apartment because he was moving back to Mali. I had no idea how amazing the place was until I visited him. I knew — in a minute — how special it was! I got so lucky and there’s a great community around here.
Q Was the community one of the factors that helped you make up your mind? A Absolutely! I’m very close to all my neighbours and everyone is very involved in what is going on. All the cats are related, too, which is kinda cool!
Q Given that you had lived in several places around the city did you have enough things to furnish this space? A To be honest, I pretty much lost everything in my divorce, so I had to start over. A couple of vintage pieces came from my parents’ home, but most of the stuff I bought myself, some of it from IKEA.
(Starting in the kitchen, Pipe points out various bits and pieces and her own creations, which adorn some of the walls — a set of metal shelves whose base is designed as a wine rack, her dining table and chairs and three sets of framed cutlery on black backgrounds that make the simple utensils look like works of art.
(From the kitchen, we wander into the double living room, which, according to Pipe, was originally two separate rooms. As this space is configured now, it is large enough to hold a beige, L-shaped sofa, a couple of black bookshelves courtesy of IKEA, a glass-topped coffee table and an L-shaped desk with metal legs that echoes the shape of the couch. At one end of the room is a window, which casts light onto the hardwood floor and at the far end, a patterned, navy blue and burgundy Oriental-style rug, sourced from a Salvation Army thrift store. Pipe’s drum set stands in the corner.)
Q Gosh. That must make quite a noise when you’re practising? A It does! But I always let the neighbours know when I’m going to be playing. There’s a thick layer of cinder blocks between them and me so I don’t think the drumming bothers them very much.
(Pipe then shows me her two bedrooms. Her room has a mini bay window over which she has hung a blind to cut the light when she wants to rest. The other is what Pipe calls “the bird room”. As we walk in, Ozzie, the budgie, chirps a greeting.) Q My goodness. Look at all your clothes! A (Laughs.) I really use this room as a closet. All of the upstairs rooms were bedrooms at one time but they weren’t built with much storage space. The downstairs, when the mayor lived here, was a ballroom.
Q Those were the days! In spite of not having much space to store your clothes, I guess you’re now well and truly settled here? A Definitely. I feel that this is ‘my’ space! My only complaint is that it can get pretty chilly because this is such an old building. Even if I try to insulate everything, it doesn’t make much difference. My rent doesn’t include hydro so my electricity bills are quite high.