House and garden
Symphony fundraiser’s 20th edition showcases six remarkable houses
Home tour fundraiser celebrates history, beautiful design
There are plenty of old homes in Waterloo Region with interesting histories, but none quite like the former isolation hospital in what was once a rural area of Waterloo.
The hospital, built around 1917, had been purchased by the Uffleman family in 1947 and extensively renovated to make a comfortable family home. Four years ago, Bev Suderman-Gladwell purchased the twostorey building with her husband, Geoff Suderman-Gladwell, and partly gutted the place, keeping its finer features, such as the beautiful wooden floors and those huge windows that allow sunlight to pour in from every angle. Then there are those towering ceilings giving a sense of space.
“When we first saw this house, with the high ceilings and windows, the house was so full of light and airy,” said Suderman-Gladwell.
But the place needed updating, and on Saturday, all the hard work and innovative ideas will be on display as the home opens it doors as part of the 20th annual “House & Garden Tour of Note.”
The fundraiser, operated by the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s volunteer committee, which this year celebrates its 70th anniversary, will feature six homes and gardens around Kitchener, Waterloo and
Conestogo.
Suderman-Gladwell’s home has the kitchen as its focal point, having repositioned it from the back to the middle of the house providing not only space but a connection between the family and dining rooms.
Everything in the house was designed with the environment in mind and the kitchen was designed for home chefs with plenty of space and inspiring views to the backyard.
“My husband loves to cook,” she said. “There is a six-burner stove and two ovens.”
The original house had an overpowering staircase located smack in the middle of the front hallway. The couple had the staircase removed and
a new, architecturally interesting floating staircase installed at the rear of the house, leading to the second level with its wide hallways.
“The joy of this house is the giant hallway,” she said, noting the upper part of the house was actually never part of the hospital but rather living quarters, likely for a caretaker.
The back of the house, the newer addition, has a bank of windows stretching the length of the family room and looking out onto the more-than-one-acre of property; gardens filled with bee-, bug- and birdattracting plants and a lawn that also feeds bees. Gardens were planned using xeriscaping, a method of gardening that eliminates need for supplemental watering. The property also features a deep, mysterious ravine filled with mature trees, attracting many species of birds.
A few blocks away, Nadia Prioreschi’s 1906 historic home and gardens will be on the tour as well. Prioreschi and her husband, Robert Waechter, own Inspired Landscapes, and her garden is a testament to her skills as a landscape architect.
Like Suderman-Gladwell, Prioreschi’s garden is designed to provide food for pollinators as well as for the human soul.
The garden surrounds a manicured lawn and is filled with a variety of plant and tree species, including ginkgo and a sprawling Japanese maple thought to be about 100 years old.
Once the couple’s children left home, they removed a swimming pool and Prioreschi had yet one more space she could transform. The gardens are arranged so each section is like a little oasis, unique and beautiful in its own right.
A large pergola at the rear of the garden features a fireplace and comfortable furniture, the perfect place to sit and relax. The structure was constructed from the Welland Canal’s wooden beams that had been underwater for decades. Prioreschi spent many hours cleaning the beams before installation, and the results are impressive.
The water feature in the yard is a wide concrete bowl where the water spills over the edge onto river rocks, then a pump recycles the water.
“Once in awhile Dante (the dog) takes a dip,” said Prioreschi.
Of her garden, Prioreschi said, “it’s ever evolving” as she is inspired by new ideas.
“It’s definitely a passion,” she added. “I like to be surrounded by things that are joyful.”
vhill@therecord.com, Twitter: @HillRecord