GO BOLD WITH THE OLD
IT CAN PAY OFF TO EMBRACE OLDER ELEMENTS IN YOUR HOME, WRITE COLIN AND JUSTIN.
Before ripping out features to update an older home, consider balancing both worlds, to live a modern life against a traditional backdrop.
Older homes have character. Period. One of our favourite pastimes is scrolling Cheap Old Houses (instagram.com/cheapoldhouses) then scoping the listings via instantstreetview.com This allows us to “walk” the road, and appraise the ’hood where each ancient gem is located.
Saving an old building — and reimagining its future — is rewarding and while we can’t live in the past, we can embrace older elements to create new legacy. In short, we needn’t be historians to occupy older homes. As 21st-century folk, we’re all about balance.
For inspiration, design-led hotels and restaurants are great sources in which to immerse, so make like a style tourist and visit Canada’s chicest establishments to appraise the vibe.
The Picton, Ont., Royal Hotel (theroyalhotel.ca) is a small-town establishment (from 1879) transformed into an upscale, contemporary destination; a space in which contemporary art and furniture mingle with old school architectural detail, reimagined for the present day.
Similarly, Quebec City’s Auberge St Antoine (saint-antoine.com) in the Old Port, is filled with artifacts dating back to the city’s very foundation, showcased throughout in glass boxes and niches, art gallery style.
These relics suffuse the modern bolthole with pertinent architectural history and indisputable design provenance.
Blue Bovine Steak + Sushi House (bluebovine.com) recently opened an eatery at Union Station in Toronto, and marries a traditional shell with inspired modern elements.
Grand scale crown mouldings, for example, compliment perforated ceiling panels, acres of marble, miles of leather, and yards of touchyfeely bouclé. At the same time, street art communes with sandstone columns detailed with motifs that pay homage to Indigenous Canadian artistry. With a menu that fuses contemporary dishes with elevated steak house fare, it’s little wonder the restaurant has become the city’s hottest destination, just a week since it opened.
The visionaries behind Blue Bovine include Nick Di Donato, president and chief executive of Liberty Entertainment Group, his wife (LEG creative director and powerhouse designer) Nadia Di Donato, and investors Kevin O’leary (Shark Tank) and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner.
Nadia Di Donato’s previous restaurant form includes (among others) Toronto’s Blue Blood and Don Alfonso 1890. Once again, the unsinkable creative has pulled off a veritable triumph, even installing, as a finishing touch, a massive 1,500-pound bronze bull, streetside, as a modern foil to the station’s Beaux-arts edifice.
Her work at Blue Bovine is a clear case of chronological opposites attracting, and proof perfect — were it ever required — that if a tony dining destination can be birthed in a corner of an (albeit stunning) railway station, so too can a cutting-edge home be created in a traditional shell.
Here are some tips for modernists in a vintage world:
Restore, don’t remove: If your home boasts ornate plasterwork or panelled walls, consider restoration instead of wielding the wrecking ball. Rather than highlight every detail, using one colour plasterwork in a matte white finish, for example, simplifies while allowing it to shine. Painting panels, doors and skirtings in one colour unifies, while being markedly less busy.
Use modern light fittings: Swapping out dusty old chandeliers for modern fixtures works well, especially if new choices are sculptural and eye catching.
Go large with furniture: Ornate rooms, we think, provide a perfect backdrop for modern furniture and inclusions. We designed 10-foot black velvet sofas for our 1833 Glasgow home, and they rock. Go for quality over quantity, and employ oversized furniture to create a contemporary landscape.
Modern art in a traditional space: Large-scale canvases and sculptures look wonderful in a traditional setting (as they do in Blue Bovine), as long as they’re afforded space to breathe.
The future — behind you: If you need more space than your older home provides, the answer might lie at the rear. A traditional home, with a contemporary extension, could offer space sufficient for a modern kitchen/ living/dining area, one that — carefully planned — could blossom to become an indoor/outdoor extravaganza.
As we see it, fusing past and present doesn’t simply embrace heritage, it tempts the exploration and development of a unique and personal style dictum. Who knows, perhaps the home choices you make today will serve as potent inspiration for a generation yet to come. Now doesn’t that sound like the perfect legacy?