Rebuilding a home — the thoughtful way
Respecting the neighbourhood and thoughtful planning were key in rebuilding childhood home in Alta Vista
Denis and Julie Staples aren’t anti-island. But when the couple was deciding what they wanted in a custom home for them and their two young sons, they nixed an island, a practically de rigueur component of kitchens these days.
Instead Denis, who’s a partner in Deslaurier Custom Cabinets, had his shop fashion a 32-square-foot rustic table made of alder as the kitchen’s hangout spot.
“We wanted a big table so when the boys get older and bring their friends over, they’ll all sit around the table with us,” says the familyoriented Denis.
“That couldn’t happen with an island with only four seats.”
Such long-term thinking informed much of the planning for the Staples’ raised bungalow, an award-winning home in the Alta Vista area with an Arts & Crafts exterior and a transitional interior.
The forward-looking home was designed by Chuck Mills Residential Design & Development.
The main floor, for example, includes a sleek, open-concept kitchen with adjoining great room, a formal dining room, and the boys’ wing with separate bedrooms for Nicolas, nine, and Alexandre, six, as well as a play room for the two.
The lower level includes the master bedroom with ensuite, walk-in closet and, because the lower level is well above grade, lots of natural light from the ample glazing.
There’s also a spare bedroom, fitness room and other space on this level.
We wanted a big table so when the boys get older and bring their friends over, they’ll all sit around the table with us
— Denis Staples.
I kept telling Chuck I wanted natural light and open space. Thanks to plentiful windows and high ceilings throughout, it works.
However, as the couple ages and stairs become a challenge, they can turn the boys’ wing into a master bedroom and make the downstairs a guest area.
The Staples also left small sections of the 3,941-square-foot home unfinished until they had moved in three years ago to see how they and the house interacted. For example, rather than completely finishing the lower-level television/sports memorabilia room, they waited until they knew how they would use the space and what the traffic flow would be before installing storage units and barn board along one wall.
It all could have looked radically different. The original plan was to renovate their existing home, a 1960s split-level on the same property. Denis had grown up there, and he and his wife bought it from his parents in 2004.
Mills planned the renovation, but when he ran the numbers it was clear the family could have a new home built specifically to their needs for about the same cost.
It would also provide something Julie, a manager in the public service, yearned for: more natural light. “The old house was stretched out and felt very dark inside,” she says. “I kept telling Chuck I wanted natural light and open space.” Thanks to plentiful windows and high ceilings throughout, “It works.”
And while there’s been an incursion of some taller houses in the neighbourhood, the Staples’ home accords with the bungalows and splits that surround it and that Denis remembers from his childhood.
“(A) two-storey château was not for us,” he says. “I told Chuck, ‘We want to be respectful of the heritage.’ ”
Looking back on that and other decisions about their new home, he knows that taking the time to plan carefully has paid off. “We’re so happy we did that,” he says. “We wouldn’t change a thing.”