‘Forever’ home for new year
Family’s ’18 resolution: to unpack for good in their dream house
After moving 12 times in the past 10 years, Kathy Essery and her husband, Craig, finally have a reason to put down roots.
The couple’s new year’s resolution for their family, which includes sons Bryson, 8, and Luke, 2, is to unpack their bags for good inside the five-bedroom dream home they just finished building in an up-andcoming pocket of Toronto’s west-end Runnymede neighbourhood.
“We weren’t ready to settle,” explains Essery, 39.
“But I don’t know why we would want to move now — we’ve actually built the perfect house for us.”
The managing partner at Nested Real Estate, getnested.ca, and Craig, 48, a consultant for Men at Work Design Build Ltd., share a professional and personal passion for renovations, old homes and architecture.
Both their fathers were contractors, so they bonded over shared childhood experiences.
“We talked about our dream house for years and things we would do,” she says.
“It’s a surreal experience to finally see those conversations come together.”
While the couple renovated or rebuilt four houses together — two in Craig’s native Australia where they lived for four years — this project was different; they knew it would be their forever home.
They hunted for a year to find a bunga- low with a large lot size within a small geographical area, hoping to save money by taking advantage of Craig’s experience as a contractor.
This year they finally settled on a 750square-foot bungalow near Jane and Dundas Sts. for $837,000. It had the lot size they were looking for — 25-by-120 feet — as well as two-car parking accessed from a back lane.
They immediately fell in love with the street, the back lane where all the neighbourhood kids play and the community vibe of the area.
“There’s just something about it . . . There’s a really good feeling,” Essery says.
The family moved into the twobedroom bungalow in April, reluctantly sharing the one barely-usable shower, to save money while they waited out the process of committee of adjustment meetings, drawings and building permits.
“We learned a lot from our other renovations and focused on not making the same mistakes,” Essery says.
“We sat on the plans for two months, going through it, making sure it was perfect, because we’ve done it before and we obviously know that once you get started, the changes get more expensive.”
In June, they moved out again and in with Essery’s parents near High Park and their bungalow’s two-week demolition began.
It took six, 20-yard bins to take the old house away and then 21 loads in Craig’s truck after the demolition.
While most of the design, both inside and out, was drawn by Craig, the couple hired architect Gabriele Guiducci of Geometra Design Ltd. to make their ideas work, get them on paper and secure all the necessary permits.
“He actually nailed it,” Essery says. “We worked with his first design and literally tweaked it once.”
A budget of $435,000 was set to fulfil their vision of a three-storey, 3,200-square-foot home, plus basement, where they dug down to allow for eight-foot ceilings.
The basement was also roughed in for a fifth bathroom, second kitchen and second laundry room to be used as a potential income suite.
Their budget didn’t factor in Craig’s full-time contracting work, his father-in-law’s constant support on the ground and Essery’s endless to- do list. “I literally had a second job!” she says.
They finished just $50,000 over budget. But another $70,000 is still needed to finish the basement, build the garage and complete the landscaping.
The four-month project marked the culmination of Craig’s 30-year career as a contractor. He now plans to focus on consulting.
“I’ve built this — I’m going to sell my tools and I’m done!” he says.
Essery chose a variety of contem- porary interior light fixtures, from Wayfair, Restoration Hardware, Vdev Maison and Ikea, to add character to the various rooms.
Tiles from Centura Tile were used for a “wow” effect throughout the home. An eight-foot addition at the front of the house became the family’s dining area, flowing into the open-concept kitchen and family room. A sliding-glass door off the family room into the backyard makes it easy to keep an eye on the kids while they play.
Their $40,000 dream kitchen was designed with entertaining in mind; plenty of cabinet space, a nine-foot island and a peninsula, as well as an $8,500 commercial-grade gas range by KitchenAid.
Ikea cabinets were used to stay within budget but splurges were made on finishes; Restoration Hardware pulls and knobs, as well as Caeserstone counters and a waterfall island.
On the second floor, each of the brothers gets his own room and the master bedroom off the back of the house features an ensuite with soaker tub, his and her sinks and a waterfall shower.
While the third floor is being used as an office, with a family room in the loft space and a spare bedroom for guests, the boys’ bedrooms will eventually be moved up there.
“We wanted the boys to be able to invite their friends and have their own space,” Essery says.
She loves the third-floor skylights that pull natural light all the way down to the main floor while Bryson is thrilled over a surprise view of the CN Tower from the third-floor gable window.
Outside, the couple aimed for a nod to Victorian architecture, with a decorative gable and front porch.
“It’s a little unusual; we didn’t want it to look like every other house,” says Craig, adding he splurged $10,000 on Maibec cedar siding and shingles.
“We wanted a traditional-meetsmodern because we’re not into big square boxes,” Essery adds.