House tours can let you play voyeur for a day
There’s something marvellous about visiting someone’s home, writes S. Evelyn Cimesa. For a brief time you can immerse yourself in another world, imagine taking grand adventures, creating beautiful artwork or tending to the garden of your dreams. It’s an o
The 56th-annual IODE House and Garden show features four outstanding homes in the postwar suburb of Alta Vista as well as two beautiful gardens in Rockcliffe, designed by Afsoon Kayvani and Robert Miller. All proceeds from this year’s tour will be going to the Diane Morrison Hospice at the Ottawa Mission. Here’s a sneak peak into two of the homes on display.
FRENCH ANTIQUES IN A MODERN SETTING
On a cul-de-sac near Smyth and Alta Vista sits a magnificent newbuild, designed by Gord Weima in 1999 and completed in March 2000, on time and on budget. The property was purchased from the NCC and features over an acre of land with many mature trees. The lovely two-storey, four-bedroom home has a large driveway and beautifully landscaped front yard.
Homeowners Suzanne and Jean Carr will take you on a tour of the world from within their home. The moment you step inside, you’re greeted by a majestic hallway with a curved staircase. To your left is a Louis Quinze console and, directly in front of you, a lovely dining room that can seat 12 is decorated with Louis Quinze buffets and servers, imported from France. Photos of past adventures line the wall next to the staircase; one depicts the family riding camels and horses in front of the pyramids at Giza.
To the right is a lovely living room. A collection of magnifying glasses from all over the world is displayed across a table: Suzanne’s collection. Her favourite antique, a 300-yearold screen from France, sits in a corner, the words “Paix Gloire Force” across the top. An ostrich egg from Jordan depicts the Tree of Life.
To the left is an Old World kitchen with granite countertops, antiqued beige cupboards and Yukon Gold slate floors.
Through the window, you can see Via Rail’s train tracks; during the summer, they’re surrounded by a sea of orange day lilies. One of the kitchen doors leads off to the family room filled with Jean’s photography, decorated with trinkets from past adventures. One shelf features stone animal figures from Zimbabwe and a South African blow gun. A Colombian clay mask and an Alabaster cat from Cairo’s Valley of the Artisans peeks at you from the outskirts of the room.
The second kitchen door leads out onto a new deck and overlooks Suzanne’s award-winning garden. She’s planted daffodils, peonies, bleeding hearts and so much more. In a few weeks, a blaze of blue forget-me-nots will take over a portion of the garden. To top it all off, a winding stone pathway takes you through to see all of the mature and colourful plants, as well as a small waterfall that trickles down into a koi pond.
URBAN RETREAT
Venture south on Alta Vista and encounter this award-winning design by Wheeler and Associates in 1994. The family purchased this house in 2010 and were really taken by the unusual design, the Zen feel of the house and the spacious garden in the back.
The three storeys, including a walk-out to the garden from the basement den, offer a practical separation of space for the dayto-day activities of the household. “What we love the most about the house is the open feel, the views on all sides and the great use of architectural design to make it interesting,” says the homeowner.
Come in through the front door and you’re welcomed by a stunning music room featuring two grand pianos: a Knabe, her great grandmother’s piano that’s been in the family since the early 1900s, and an Erard, the homeowner’s father’s favourite piano. After he passed away in France, they brought it back with them. The family will offer live music, including duets on the pianos, during the tour.
Beautiful original artwork hangs throughout the home, created by the two artists in the family— the homeowner’s mother and father-in-law. Most of the artwork was created by the homeowner’s mother, who does acrylic paintings but also some wood cuts. Her pieces are inspired by the outdoors, animals and the fantastic, as depicted by her Evolution series hanging in the living room.
Upstairs, two skylights stream in plenty of natural light and give a view of tree branches. In the master bedroom, a wall curves around a large window to give it added architectural flair. Beside the bed is a cabinet filled with the couple’s collection of miniatures. She collects elephants and items gifted by her son while her husband collects Wade Whimsies — the figurines featured in Red Rose tea packages
A large deck overlooks the professionally landscaped garden, which features a perimeter border of lilacs, hosta, lily-of-the-valley and evergreen shrubs. There are terraced beds underneath the deck, boasting an array of perennials and lilies. The backyard also has a hot tub, protected by a cedar overhang.
The shared deck leads to the granny flat, a small two-storey home where the homeowner’s mother resides. The space is filled with colourful artwork, bright woods and gorgeous fabrics and patterns. Antique vases line the shelf in the kitchen and, upstairs, the walls are filled with books. In the bedroom hangs a lovely handmade chandelier of painted metal portraying a bouquet of flowers.