navigator 97 | Great Spaces A chevronshaped ode to mid-century modern in North York

A chevron-shaped ode to mid-century design in North York

When Frances Biernacki, a productivity coach, started dating her husband,

Mark, an intellectual property lawyer, in 2000, he told her one of his life goals was to build a home from scratch. She liked the sound of that. Five years later, they bought a teardown bungalow in North York, but life got in the way of their reno plans. They had two kids—Alexandra is now 15 and Jeffrey is 11—and lived in the house for almost a decade before mobilizing their plan in 2014. “My father-in-law joked that we’d better do it before our kids move out,” says Frances.

They wanted something modern, with a throwback to 1960s California ranch homes. They enlisted architect Paul Raff, who had designed a limestone-clad home on Post Road they’d always admired, to bring their vision to life. Together, they spent two years working on the design, and the family moved into a condo for another two years while it was being built.

The new home is an architectural showstopper. The highlight: a two-storey, glass-lined living area at the rear of the house that’s shaped like a chevron. One leg houses a sleek kitchen and family room; the other, topped with panelled skylights, functions as a conservatory where Mark, an avid gardener, keeps his tropical tree collection in the winter. In May 2018, when the family moved in, they kept the finishes and furnishings as minimal as possible. “It’s about the space more than the furniture,” says Frances. “Mark jokes that we’ve built an art gallery with no art.”

1 Frances hates open shelving, so almost everything in the kitchen—except the induction stovetop—is hidden from sight. 2 She didn’t want distractions while the kids were doing homework or while the family was entertaining, so there’s no TV on the main floor. 3 Frances and Mark worked with Patti Rosati on the interior design. They had been hunting for a 1960s Adrian Pearsall sofa, and recently found one in Chicago. 4 The floor of the main living area is grey porcelain tile. There’s radiant in-floor heating throughout to help bring heating bills down. 5 Mark grows limes, lemons and oranges in the conservatory. It’s everyone’s favourite room: party guests love socializing there, and it’s perfect for when the kids want to curl up with a book. 6 Frances and Mark always wanted a library, but didn’t want to take square footage away from other rooms. They settled on this upstairs nook—which is the only place in the home with open shelves.