Dan & Diane Molenaar
This fashionable couple gives us a tour of their serene eco-friendly home
Despite the isolated surroundings of a wooded area of Eagle Lake, three hours northeast of Toronto, Dan Molenaar, 55, and his wife, Diane, 48, built their new home to be as every bit as sleek and modern as the urban life they gave up. After operating Boomer, a landmark menswear boutique on Queen Street West in Toronto for almost 30 years, they closed shop and took off for cottage country for the next chapter of their lives.
The duo are operating full steam behind their next full-time venture, Mafco House ( mafcohouse.com), a design company they started several years ago when they built a modular cottage made from reclaimed glass sheets from a demolished office tower. They have since designed about 20 of these mid-century– inspired modular homes for various clients around the province, mostly in cottage country and rural areas, including their new home, shown here, which also serves as their office.
With a high eco-friendly awareness, these houses have very little disruptive visual impact with their flat roofs and bronze colourings, which allow them to blend into their surroundings, and glass walls positioned on the south and west sides, which allow for maximum sunlight.
But with a bourgeoning country business, do they miss city life?
Dan smiles and points to a mountain bike, a recent birthday gift and says, “Living in the city, I hadn’t been on a bike in 20 years. Now I’m riding every day.”