Côte-st-luc duplex packed with joy and keepsakes
‘Love shack’ turns into family home
Eleven years ago, Joel Lazarovitz, a franchise consultant and his then-girlfriend, Karen, who works in computer sales, began planning their future together. Joel spotted a newspaper ad for an upper flat in Côte-St-Luc that seemed perfect: The 1920s detached duplex had 10-foot ceilings, great light and plenty of quirks. Over the years, their growing family has taken over every available inch, and packed the place with plenty of special memories. What drew you here?
We had been dating 10 months, and were getting serious. This place was the “Don’t-propose-to-me-until-we’ve-lived-together” part of our plan. This was the Love Shack!
Yes! We both really love this area — Joel grew up in CôteSt-Luc — and when he went to look at this place, he called me 10 minutes later and said, “It’s so ugly, but it’s the best apartment ever.” What was so ugly about it?
It was painted forest green everywhere. (The previous tenants) were smokers, so the place stank, and there were cigarette burns on the floors, but we saw potential in it. I fell in love with the fireplace, the huge side yard, the two parking spaces and also the fact that it was on a cul-desac. We loved that it was the only duplex on a street full of homes with young families, because our plan was to have one child here and then buy a house. It’s extremely bright and cheerful now.
Because it’s a cross-hall plan and we’re not attached to anything, we get lots of light. The landlord painted everything off-white, fixed the floors and cleaned everything before we moved in. It still has a pretty awful 1970s kitchen, but we’ve adapted. So when did Joel propose?
Five months after we moved in, right here in the duplex. He took the day off work, told me he was sick and when I got home there was a letter on our outside door that said, “Only two things stand between our future happiness: a door and a question, so open the door and answer my question.” He made a path down the hallway with letters, flowers and Hershey’s Kisses, which led me to the bedroom. He had written “Will You Marry Me?” on the bed with letters he cut out from paper garlands. It was beautiful. So this duplex has really special meaning for us. Speaking of your wedding, the first thing I noticed when I first walked into your space is a gorgeous quilt with your names on it hanging on the wall.
My mother-in-law is a brilliantly talented quilter. For our wedding, she made us this spectacular quilt; it took her four months. She embroidered, in Hebrew, “I am my beloved’s as my beloved is to me,” and hand-stitched the lace on the bride’s dress. We had it displayed at the hall during our reception so everybody could see it. It’s my favourite wedding present, and it’s been hanging up there since our wedding day. Even on our wedding night, we didn’t want to go to some hotel; we just wanted to come here. Your plan was to have just one child here; now you have two. But at least it’s a threebedroom duplex.
It’s not, really. The extra room is actually just the space above the duplex stairway. The idea was to have one child here and then move into a house, but it didn’t work out that way, with maternity leaves, some health issues and sick leaves, and the starting of a new business. So we converted it into a bedroom for Paige; she loves it. What do you love most about living here?
This duplex sits on a double lot; that’s why we have such a large side yard. We have a fabulous landlord who lives next door. He’s oldschool Italian, so all you have to do is think of something that’s broken, and he’ll fix it. We have a pear tree, and he makes us pickled pears. I also love that our street is so multicultural: we have francophones across from us, Israelis beside us, and families from Iran, Morocco and Italy, too. All the kids play together outside, which is so nice. It’s pretty packed in here, and I see you’ve used every square inch of space to store things.
I am amazing at organizing. We have two closets in this whole house. My washer and dryer aren’t in the same place. I collect lots from the kids — all my favourite clothes of theirs, pictures, special books and toys. I keep every card. I’m very sentimental. The goal is to eventually make a quilt of their old stuff. As much as we’ve probably outgrown this place, I’ll always love it.