Classic in the Country
Art and antiques reign in designer Michael Angus’s Victorian farmhouse.
I’M SO GRATEFUL to be able to walk out the door and see endless fields,” says Michael Angus of the home he and his partner, Glen Munro, bought in 2018 in the rolling hills of Northumberland County, northeast of Toronto. Built in 1858, the classic Canadian Victorian red brick farmhouse sits on 10 and a half hectares and was discovered after five years of hunting for the perfect place to reflect the designer’s trademark style. Angus & Company, Michael’s eponymous Toronto home store, was relished by tastemakers from 2000 to 2016, when he closed up shop and moved to the country, first to Elora, Ont., then to the farmhouse two years later. I chatted with Michael about the 3,500-square-foot house, as well as his favourite pieces collected over the years, and found a unique opportunity to learn about his design process.
Q&A ARREN WILLIAMS: Tell me about your style. You’re a self-described classicist, but our mutual friend Tommy Smythe also describes your look as quintessentially Canadian. Would you agree?
MICHAEL ANGUS: I don’t like to say traditional because traditional sounds so boring, stiff and uncomfortable! A classicist is someone who likes classic detailing and things that are timeless. In other words, my furniture should be able to move to any house, to almost any room, regardless of the style of the interior; it should be something you could live with forever. There’s always a Canadian element to my interiors, with the antiques, log furniture and faux bois; so yes, being Canadian has influenced my design style.
AW: How do you know that you can live with a piece forever?
MA: The pieces that are special to me are the ones that are unique. They always have good form: interesting legs, an interesting shape, interesting colour. I’m lucky to have had exposure to beautiful furniture. It’s those pieces that really speak to me.
AW: Is there one piece that finally feels perfectly at home here?
MA: Yes, the abstract artwork by painter Jean Alain Raffalli that’s in the front hall. I bought it from my friend and mentor, designer John Manuel. Tommy and I used to go over and talk decorating with John and admire his impeccable taste. It’s a piece I love and have always found a home for, but in this home — more than any other — I’ve been able to showcase it best.
AW: It’s a surprising choice, considering you normally work with whites and neutrals.
MA: There’s so much order in this house that it’s that one perfect thing that doesn’t fit — but does. It’s that containment of excitement and interesting colour that doesn’t have to blur all over the entire house.
IF MICHAEL HAS A DESIGN MOTTO, this is it. It’s also his best budget advice. His own home is a testament to this approach, filled as it is with pieces that have moved with him through his life. Case in point: “The slipcovered armchairs in the living room have been everywhere with me,” he says. “They were my grandmother’s, I grew up with them in my mom’s house, and I was able to abscond with them. They were slipcovered 18 years ago in cotton denim and might have been redone once. Even though they’re white, they’ve lasted, since white is the only thing you can bleach.”
“Buy well once, and have no regrets”
AW: How quickly did the house come together?
MA: Very quickly. We had one month before we moved in to paint and refinish the floors, and I was still working in Elora, so decisions had to be made. The floors were sanded and refinished, and the whole house was sprayed in Benjamin Moore’s Ultra White, including the tin ceilings in the front hallway and kitchen. Tin ceilings aren’t really my style — too wedding cakey — but when the painting was done, I was shocked. I never thought I would love them, and here we are!
AW: Where do you like to hang out here? MA: Definitely the family room; we live in that room through most of the summer. At 350 square feet, it’s a big, bright space with large windows for enjoying the view. There’s a potting room off the family room that has cedar closets and space for all my pots.
AW: So, do you finally have room for everything you’ve collected over the years?
MA: Yes! One of the joys in this house is that there’s so much room. I move things around when I’m in the mood. A former colleague at Babcock Zanner used to put all of his things away once a year, and then slowly pull them back out to find new homes for everything. I’ve always thought that was such a clever way of living. I have friends who have their furniture where it is, and that’s that. If you try to move it one inch to the left or right, they get upset. But the whole joy of decorating is being able to experiment, so you can see pieces with a fresh eye.
AW: Do you have any regrets about moving out of the city?
MA: Well, we miss our friends and some restaurants. But, even as a kid, I had cousins who had moved to the country and I was always so envious. When we first moved here, we were sitting outside having a drink and heard an unusual noise. We realized it was the sheep bleating as they got their nightly feed. What could be better than that?