FROM THIS TO THAT
Waterfront condo transformed with clean modern lines
When veteran special events promoter Sheldon Kagan announced his retirement in February 2015 after 50 years in the business, Linda Kagan jumped for joy.
It meant the empty nesters could sell their sprawling Dorval home with its massive archive in the basement and two in-house business offices and buy a condo with manageable square footage fashioned to their specifications.
“I’d been waiting for five years to downsize,” Linda Kagan said during a recent tour of their new digs in a Dorval condo complex Sheldon Kagan had been eyeing for years.
After listing their home, they began visiting available units in the waterfront complex, but none of them struck a chord. Just as they were losing hope, a 1,700-squarefoot, two-bedroom unit with a master bath, powder room and laundry room came available. It fit their requirements to a T.
The couple have vacationed in Jamaica for years. It’s their second home, of sorts, but they didn’t want to move there lock, stock and barrel. Dorval couldn’t give them tropical heat 12 months a year, but it could deliver a serene waterfront view.
“When I roll over to get out of bed now, I don’t see land. I see water,” Sheldon Kagan said. “We have water views from all the front rooms. It’s like living on a cruise ship.”
The condo was in good condition, but the interiors reflected the taste of the previous owner and Linda Kagan had a design vision.
“I wanted clean modern lines,” she said. “Our last house was very traditional with lots of dark wood. I wanted to start fresh.”
They decided to live with the condo as it was for a couple of months to get a feel for the space before deciding on the extent of the remodel. Then it was time to find a contractor.
Sheldon Kagan was put in touch with contractor Andrei Pircalabioru of Maitrico through a business acquaintance.
“Word of mouth is the way to go,” he said. “So many of our friends had horror stories about contractors trying to sell you a bill of goods and then not delivering. Andrei and his team were perfect.”
The project was not without its trials, however. The couple decided to stay put during the three-month, $87,500 renovation of the kitchen, master bath, powder room and laundry room.
“Our living room became the kitchen,” Linda Kagan said. “Thinking back on the experience, I wouldn’t recommend staying put if there’s any chance you can move in with family or stay at a hotel.”
“We have a long balcony which stretches from the family room, past the living room to the master bedroom.
We had to put on our slippers and bathrobes and walk along the balcony to get to the different rooms (in the dead of winter),” Sheldon Kagan said with a laugh.
The galley kitchen is now decked out with custom walnut cabinetry from Cuisines Ambiance — woodgrain for the lower cabinets and high-gloss white for the upper cupboards. Linda Kagan chose elegant Roma Imperial granite from The Stone Company for the kitchen counters and sleek horizontal pulls from Richelieu. Two stools from Mobilia are tucked up to the kitchen counter that opens onto the living room.
The master bath is designed for maximum comfort with a 4-by-5 foot glassed-in shower from Ciot to accommodate Sheldon Kagan’s tall, broad frame, a substantial soaker tub and a striking wall of Lyra Sahara Camila wavy tiles, also from Ciot.
The Karing Integrated Kohler smart toilet is quite the contraption, with its own remote control and a long list of toilet-related options to choose from.
Linda Kagan furnished the living spaces with sleek modern lines and a strict white and beige palette. She looked for multi-purpose pieces of furniture designed for apartment living. The table set up by the waterfront window can expand to become a dining table if necessary. During the chilly months, the couple eat their meals at that table. During the warm months, they live on their balcony, soaking in the unobstructed water view of Lake St-Louis.
The previous owner used the room off the galley kitchen as a breakfast nook, but the Kagans had their table with a view all set up, so they repurposed the room by installing a queen-size Murphy bed — turning the space into a handy sleepover spot for the two grandkids.
The second bedroom was turned into a family room that is dominated by a red-leather sectional couch, one of only four pieces of furniture they brought with them from the previous home.
Sheldon Kagan’s business and music archives were extensive, filling the former home’s basement. The couple culled and culled, bringing only the most-treasured music-themed paintings and statuary with them to the new place.
The rest of the archives, including a record collection reaching back to 1965, were donated to Vanier College’s music program. The CEGEP is currently working on a new Sheldon and Linda Kagan Library.
Work in the condo is now complete and the Kagans are looking forward to enjoying the summer months on their lakeside balcony, sipping cool cocktails.
“I’m in heaven,” Linda Kagan said. “At this stage in our lives we wanted paradise and that’s what we got,” Sheldon Kagan said.