Super-sized but super homey

Add a dash of intrigue and mix it with a little fantasy

THEY WERE A NEW COUPLE

looking for a new place to live downtown.

So it made perfect sense (to one of them) to move into a 5,000 square-foot former synagogue.

Rob Reid is a financial analyst for the Metro grocery store chain.

“All I could see was numbers rolling and a $30,000 roof,” he says.

Bianca Marijan is a real estate agent, owner of City Brokerage.

“It took me four months to convince him,” she says, perched on a couch in the vast living room awash in golden afternoon light.

They moved in a year and a half ago and combined their vision and belongings to make a place of intrigue and fantasy, yet remarkably homey.

Picture a combo of “Mad Men,” a props warehouse and an aging church in Eastern Europe and you have a hint of the Marijan-Reid residence.

Spectator archives show it was originally the Ohav Zedeck synagogue. When it closed in 1998, important interior pieces went to Shalom Village. Over the years various churches came and went and people had schemes for the space that never quite flew.

Now, as a home, it retains the soul of its former life. The tall Gothic windows with panes of coloured glass influence the light in the living room, and way up at the curved space where wall meets ceiling, the original paintings of goat, fish and lion of the Zodiac remain.

Up there, practically in the stars, the couple have their bedroom, so invaded by light that it must be impossible to sleep beyond dawn.

Over the years various churches came and went and people had schemes for the space that never quite flew.

MARIJAN

HAD SOLD the former synagogue to a client several years ago. The building overwhelmed them and they decided to sell.

“I thought it would be a perfect home, but I had to do some belly dancing to convince Rob.”

Luckily, he was done with suburban life in Dundas and was ready to move to the core. They started with the kitchen, carving it out of a space that had been the synagogue’s hall.

“When Rob’s mother first saw it she looked shocked, like perhaps we should call an ambulance.”

The kitchen is the most contemporary space in the house, but with an exposed brick wall and new floor-to-ceiling mural, it pays homage to the history of the building.

In the cavernous space of the former synagogue the couple put together three different sitting areas using area carpets, cosy furniture arrangements, plants, arts and objects to suggest enclosure.

The decor is a collage of both their styles. Flea market furniture mixes with antiques; collected art ranges from posters to fine work, and books are everywhere.

“They are all Bianca’s and she says she’s read them all,” Reid says.

Marijan immigrated to Canada from Serbia when she was 13. Reid grew up in Simcoe. They both were taught how to “do things.”

She can sew, he can reupholster furniture, and they both take on anything, including hanging chandeliers from the high altitude ceiling.

“I discovered winches in the attic. That’s how it’s done,” says Reid.

At the far end of the living room, under the big round window that faces east, the floor is raised like a stage. The LPs are here and the turntable and piano. The acoustics are wonderful and Reid and Marijan welcome musicians and artists to use the space. They’ve registered it with the Hamilton Arts Council.

IN

THE OLD synagogue’s hall, where the ceiling is lower, a massive mural divides the dining room from two sitting areas. The fabric mural was a movie prop; Reid and Marijan made a frame for it and it became an instant, intriguing wall.

Turning a 5,000 square-foot former synagogue into a home has been a trip. As they were moving in, curious people would appear. Architecture sleuths, people who used to pray there, and the homeless arrived. Not all of it was nice.

“We sort of re-educated people,” Marijan says. “As they saw our hard work, they started to respect the building.”

As much as he loves the inside, Reid is savouring the outside. Though they put up a fence to block the view of a parking lot, it didn’t stop interaction.

“We built a big table and when we sit at it, almost everybody who walks by engages in conversation. That’s another great part of living here, and why we wanted to be downtown.”

As they were moving in, curious people would appear. Architecture sleuths, people who used to pray there, and the homeless arrived.

A natural stage for events. Reid and Marijan have opened their home up to one show and would be happy to see more.

Original stained glass windows were removed when the synagogue closed in 1998. But the panes of coloured glass cast a lovely hue in the living room.

The original kitchen in the old hall had none of the charm of the new one with its generous counter space and storage.

Rob Reid and Bianca Marijan in the doorway of their home, a converted synagogue.

The former synagogue built in 1927 swallowed up the furniture from two homes.

When the mood strikes, a place to write a letter.

One of three sitting areas in the living room. A brush of gold paint, stacks of books and a place to nap in this nook tucked into a corner of the living room.

A mural from a props warehouse with a second one visible in the background.

The “cocktail lounge” in the former synagogue hall features a painting from prop storage and furniture that was rescued from the trash.

Another of the three cosy sitting areas in the living room.