Condo boasts high ceilings and view of the canal
Nina Ladenheim, a senior buyer who works in the fashion industry, searched for about two years before finding her dream space. Right before her apartment lease ran out, she finally found it. Her 1,000-square-foot industrial loft-style condo near Little Burgundy features 10-foot-high concrete ceilings, huge windows that flood the space with light, and direct access to the Lachine Canal’s bike paths and the area’s trendy restos.
When I came in here, I just got that feeling — it felt cozy. I’d seen lots of places, and I knew right away that this was the one. I could see myself living here, even though it looked nothing like this. What did it look like when you first saw it?
The living room and dining room area was painted orange — a cross between tangerine and pumpkin. And this entire long wall had floor-to-ceiling wood bookshelves. The previous owner was a professor. He had no overhead lighting, just one lamp in the corner. His office was here in my dining room, and his dining room was where my sitting area is now. What do you love most about this space?
I love the cement pillars, the high ceilings and the beautiful wood floors, and the layout is really amazing. It’s just the perfect amount of space for me. From my balcony, I can see the Lachine Canal and St. Joseph’s Oratory, so that’s nice. Having two bathrooms is a huge bonus, too. The walk-through closet between my bedroom and bathroom is amazing. In my old apartment, I had things hanging on the door of the closet.
You’ve hung some lovely antique crystal chandeliers, and they work great with the industrial design elements of this space.
I like the eclectic newmixed-with-old look. I don’t like one style in particular, and I like the idea of having things that are old or traditional, things that have meaning. That lamp in the corner of my sitting area is an art deco one from the 1920s. I found it in an antique shop
and just fell in love with it. You have several framed groupings of old family photos on the walls that function as art.
My grandparents are no longer with us, and I just love seeing photos of them kissing when they were younger, of my grandmother holding me, of my dad as a child and my mother with her brother when they were little. I love looking at them and think-
ing about my family. Then there’s this gorgeous, very modern abstract paint- ing above your couch.
That’s my first real piece of art. I bought it at a gallery in Old Montreal. It’s by Mont- real artist Simon Plasse, and I think it’s just beautiful. I bought special lighting to highlight it, because you can’t really see all the shades of green in there, but I haven’t gotten around to installing it yet. Your marble end tables are very cool.
I’d always wanted marble tables, and a friend of mine said we could make them. I found the metal bases at a garage sale up the street. The table bases were in pretty rough shape, but I got them cleaned them up, and then I bought the tabletops at a marble place in the east end. They used an end piece of marble and polished it up for me. I think both tables cost less than $150. I’m sure they would have cost me around $1,000 if I’d bought them at a high-end furniture place. Living in a condo complex like this has a lot of advantages.
Definitely. I have indoor parking, there’s a gym, a pool, a sauna. You can barbecue in the summer. I’m a five-minute walk from the Atwater Market. In the summer, I go there all the time. And the canal is right here. I walk there all the time, and I also walk from here to downtown, which takes me about 45 minutes if I walk fast. I think this building is very accessible to everything. There’s so much action around here, and I love that there are many great restaurants on Notre Dame. This area is really the place to be.