At home in her True North
Singer and heiress’s house reflects passion for Canada
Eleanor McCain’s personal greeter Audrey meets us at the door of her sumptuous uptown house. Audrey is a cavalier King Charles spaniel with the soulful-waif eyes of a Margaret Keane painting.
A dramatic white rug splotched with black, and custom-made by Elte, lies in the entry hall. There are white rugs and light flooring throughout, a brave choice with a dog.
“I thought about that,” McCain sighs, resignedly. Audrey looks up with those molten eyes and all is lost.
McCain, a classically trained soprano, is scion to the McCain Foods empire, founded in FlorencevilleBristol, N.B., by her late father Wallace and his brother Harrison. But she doesn’t look the heiress part — where’s the tiara? She is disarmingly normal in subtle makeup, loose hair, blue jeans and a comfy blouse. She could be in a shampoo ad.
McCain amps it up in glam fashion shots for her coffee-table book, True North: The Canadian Song
book, which debuted Friday. It’s a two-for — it includes a double-CD set with Canadian folk and pop songs performed by McCain with guest artists and 10 symphony orchestras from across the country.
The bilingual, 220-page book is filled with stunning landscape images from coast-to-coast, along with photographer Tony Hauser’s portraits of McCain in stunning gowns from Canadian fashion designers including Greta Constantine, Romona Keveza and Lucian Matis.
The project was a self-financed, three-year labour of love; it’s her sixth and most ambitious album.
“I am proud of being Canadian, and we are celebrating our 150th,” she explains. “I listened to songs with images of landscapes and landscape photography came into play. ‘A Case of You’ references Canada; as do ‘Four Strong Winds’ and ‘Helpless’ — I like those geographical storylines.
“I had my list of songs by iconic writers like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. I chose songs suited to my style; I am an emotional singer.”
In addition to her vocals, there are appearances by 28 guest artists, including Liona Boyd, Matt Dusk and John McDermott.
Evidence of the work is confined to her self-described “messy” office with boxes of books, photos and piles of proofs.
“It’s my True North storeroom,” she jokes about the wood-panelled study.
In the hallway, a painting by Saskatchewan artist Ivan Eyre presides over a side table. A Charles Pachter Canadian flag rendition is mounted on the wall opposite the staircase.
The house, in which she lives with 15-year-old daughter, Laura, is spacious enough to be a gallery — it has five bedrooms, a finished basement, three working fireplaces, a mud room (her pride and joy: storage, glorious storage!), den, living room, dining room and office.
The kitchen is the size of a Manhattan apartment. The countertops are white marble. She doesn’t worry about red wine stains on it because she is not a big drinker.
“The wine cellar doesn’t get a lot of use,” she says. Oh honey, invite me over.
She admits that she is not a “cook.” Ah ha! Do we smell fast food? She was born and raised in Florenceville-Bristol, “French Fry Capital of the World.”
“Of course, I eat fries,” she claims. She is even warming up to fries à la poutine, courtesy of Laura. “I could eat junk food all the time.” But, clearly, she doesn’t. The house is comfortable and sophisticated, with Art Deco touches. The palette is pale grey with blackand-white accents, courtesy of designer Leila MacDonald, who went to school with McCain’s sister, Martha.
She bought it five years ago, virtually new. Part of the draw was loca- tion, location, location. “It is close to Laura’s school.” Furthermore, it is in acul-de-sac and very private. “Before we moved here, we were on a bus route,” McCain recalls. “This is very quiet. ‘Go play in the street’ I tell her.”
The dining room features a magnificent Art Deco sideboard with her grandmother’s tea set bordered by a pair of silver pineapples. Over the sideboard is a graphic orange painting by interdisciplinary artist Wanda Koop, of Winnipeg.
The rosewood dining-room table was custom-made. “It is a replica of an antique,” she says. The 12 chairs are upholstered in a black-and-white design, evocative of ikat dyeing technique. The majestic light fixture over the table is very Chanel. “It is all Leila,” she gestures.
The den is her favourite hangout. “My big thing is comfort,” McCain says. “And I don’t like clutter.” The rug is an amazing herringbone pattern in cowhide. The piano was her grandmother’s. “We have band rehearsal here.”
Music has always been in her life. McCain has been singing since she was 2 and had her epiphany when she was 9. “When I was 9, I saw Annie, in New York,” she recalls. “I think it was with Sarah Jessica Parker. I lived in a town with 800 people — I was not exposed to musicals. (Imagine) seeing Annie for the first time, in a full-fledged musical, with girls my own age!”
After graduating from Mount Allison University, she continued her music studies in Toronto. “I became drawn to more intimate music. I married classical, pop, folk and jazz to convey the emotion.” She made her album debut in 2001 with Intimate. Moving on from memory lane and into the living room, a gob-smacking pair of twig sculptures bookend the fireplace. They are by installation artist Dennis Lin, noted for bringing nature indoors. McCain loves nature as she loves her country: she also had 150 red-and-white tulips planted to mark Canada’s big birthday.