AN ENVIABLE VIEW
Modern minimalism 14 floors up
Joanna Toti loves to move. Born in Ontario, but a longtime resident of Montreal, she explains that between the age of 21 and 31 she moved no fewer than 11 times!
Toti has no desire to be a nomad, nor does she have itchy feet. Rather, she enjoys buying apartments that are in need of tender loving care. She loves to renovate them, live in them for a while, then sell them before moving on to her next project.
For the past 20 years, Toti has lived on Nuns’ Island, an area introduced to her by her now deceased spouse. Even within that area, which she says is her favourite neighbourhood in Montreal, Toti has moved five times. Recently retired from McGill University, where she worked as an editor for a nursing research journal in the Faculty of Medicine and then on a professional development program for physicians, Toti now has time to stand back from her career and contemplate her next move.
In the meantime, she lives on the 14th floor of a highrise where she has renovated the interior. Her condo is a dazzlingly bright space, configured into an open living/dining room and kitchen with large windows. Her living area gives stunning views over the surrounding buildings and the Montreal skyline.
Off the living room is a small balcony encased in glass, so anybody sitting there can continue to enjoy the view. The condo has two bedrooms, including one that serves as a den, and two full bathrooms. Toti shares her home with Becky, her miniature schnauzer, which, unusually for this breed, is pure white. She moved into her modern, minimalist home in 2012.
Q You mentioned you found out about this condo because you were already living in the building? A Yes. My partner died, and there was a lot of emotion attached to the place we were living in. I wanted to make a fresh start. When this condo came on the market, I said to myself, ‘Now there’s a million-dollar view!’
Q So that was it? A Pretty well. Q What is it you particularly like about Nuns’ Island? A The lifestyle. I feel really privileged to live here. I don’t mean in a monetary sense, but from the point of view of the location. We’ve got the outdoors — trails, parks. Every day except Sunday, I meet up with a girlfriend and we power walk around the island. After that, I come back and walk my dog. At the same time, I’m only seven minutes from downtown, five minutes from the South Shore, two minutes from Atwater ….
Q What about the condo itself? You said you renovated it. Was it not in good shape? A It was fine, but it just wasn’t my taste. I pretty much did everything — took down walls, remodelled the kitchen and the bathrooms. The ceramic flooring was already in the kitchen, so I left that, but the units were all custom built. This was actually a closed room.
(Toti points to where there had been a division between the living/dining area and the kitchen. Half of the kitchen cupboards and drawers are black. The other half, white. All of the units have brushed steel handles that match the stainless steel appliances. An island with a quartz countertop and a double sink in the middle divides the kitchen from the living/dining room.)
Q Did you work with a designer? A I did, but I’ve renovated so many apartments that I know what I want. I’ve been using the same people for many, many years. The kitchen was done by Dazio, an ebéniste, who is originally from France. He’s just excellent. He installed the shelving in the den as well.
(Oversized paintings hang on the walls on our way to the den. Painted in soft, neutral shades with white wood trim, the understated walls provide the ideal backdrop for the colourful, eyecatching canvases.)
Q You’ve got some stunning artwork! Have you been collecting it for a long time? A I started because I was babysitting some paintings for friends who were sailing around the world. Naturally enough, when they returned, they wanted their artwork back, so then I was stuck with all these empty walls.
I contacted a couple of galleries in the city to shop around for something to replace it. The galleries are really generous. What they’ll do is actually bring you art to put on the walls and let you live with it until you can’t live with it any more or you buy it!