The DIYers

WHO:

Kate Krasic, an interior designer at Kate and Amanda Design, her husband, Chris Krasic, owner and builder at Milmax Builds, their kids Max, 12, and Mila, 9, and their three-year-old Bernese mountain dog, Mate

WHAT:

A four-bed, three-bath converted farmhouse on 23 acres in Honeywood

The Krasic family live in a detached house in Sunnylea. They’re avid skiers, and back in 2019, they joined the Mansfield Ski Club, about an hour and a half’s drive from Toronto. It was a bit of a trek, and they’d been thinking about buying an income property, so in the summer of 2020, they purchased a $705,000 farmhouse just a 15-minute drive from their ski club.

The interiors were dated, but Kate and Chris have mad reno skills, and were excited at the prospect of customizing their new property. They did all the work themselves, gutting the kitchen and adding two full baths, a rec room and a bedroom. The work was completed on New Year’s Day—just in time for another round of lockdowns to hit Toronto—and the family escaped to their farmhouse. The kids do Zoom school (the Wi-Fi isn’t bad), and after lessons and chores, they head outside for therest of the afternoon. Max has gotten into birding and also captures videos of the countryside with his drone, while Mila, a crafter, makes wreaths from grapevines. Kate and Chris have also discovered a love for country living and, in the future, they hope to bring in livestock, including a goat, a pig, a cow and a horse.