We independently select everything we recommend.
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we → select → everything
Buying through us may earn us a commission, which supports our work.
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which → buy → work
Two pleasant features of this teenage girl’s bedroom are the giant chestnut tree framed in the window.
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features → frame → window
For now, he’s sequestered from his hairy siblings, a pair of Labrador retriever mixes, Lisa and Rachel.
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he → sequester → mixes
There’s also a teenage son, as well as the homeowners, professionals who enjoy hosting friends and travelling.
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who → ’ → friends
“It looks good here, but wait until you see it from the vantage point of one storey up,” says the architect Kyra Clarkson who runs an eponymous firm in Toronto.
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who → look → Toronto
She’s referring to that tree in the front yard, its limbs currently undulating in the breeze.
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limbs → refer → breeze
That’s what she told her clients a few years ago when they discussed redesigning their 1,930-square-foot home.
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they → ’ → home
The tree held a special spot, and they wanted to preserve its presence.
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they → hold → presence
Inside wasn’t shabby, but the house needed a style upgrade and a titch more space.
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house → need → upgrade
A traditional kitchen felt pedestrian, while a standard straight-run staircase hogged a portion of the main floor; in the middle of which sat a sofa.
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sofa → feel → which
Clarkson alongside project manager Sheila Mathies as well as the builder, Collaborative Ventures, eked out more space by topping the house with a third floor, which meant totally building new so the house could live its best life.
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house → eke → life
Today, that swanky third storey encompasses a west-facing rooftop terrace overlooking the backyard and on the other end the principal bedroom with a view of that tree.
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storey → encompass → tree
“They have amazing taste and a great eye (the art collection here is amazing) and are really trusting and wanted us to come up with something fabulous within this tight footprint,” says Clarkson of the narrow house that’s 18 feet wide but now feels much more spacious.
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that → have → house
Harnessing the verticality was key, says Clarkson, noting the S-shaped staircase.
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Clarkson → harness → staircase
Eye-grabby and sculptural, it’s made of bendable plywood and coated in layers of plaster.
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it → make → plaster
“It feathers out from the drywall of the exterior walls and emerges from the side walls of the house,” says Clarkson.
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Clarkson → feather → house
Thanks to it, sunlight beams down into the heart of the home.
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sunlight → beam → home
“Our biggest challenge on downtown projects is getting light into the core of the house to animate the space,” says Clarkson who didn’t use skylights to brighten the space (though she isn’t against them).
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she → get → them
Instead, “big windows facing the [third-floor] deck act like a clerestory,” she says.
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she → face → clerestory
“And allow light to come down from the roof and continue down to the basement.”
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light → allow → basement
On the second floor, where the kids’ bedrooms are located, light dances into the library that Clarkson tucked into the landing.
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Clarkson → locate → landing
The books together with the captivating artwork throughout, including old Chinese kites that dangle from the third floor, give the house an inviting, soulful quality.
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that → include → quality
Down on the main floor, it’s only fitting that Clarkson went warm.
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Clarkson → ’ → floor
Millwork by Harvest House is on show in the walnut kitchen, which has a Mutina-tile backsplash.
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which → have → backsplash
Curiously, the kitchen cabinets have a void up top, despite the prevailing notion that it’s a faux pas.
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it → have → notion
“We kept those cabinets down from the ceiling, so they’re more like furniture pieces,” says Clarkson, noting the solid wood integrated pulls and the lack of surface hardware.
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Clarkson → keep → hardware
Mutina pops up again in the impossible-not-to-touch, raised green tiles skirting along the fireplace by the entranceway.
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Mutina → pop → entranceway
But the most touchable moment is outside, where the façade is clad in what looks like overlapping, oversized Shreddies.
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what → clothe → Shreddies
“When designing a modern or contemporary house within an eclectic neighbourhood, it’s really important to consider the massing of the house and the materials you use on the exterior” says Clarkson.
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Clarkson → design → exterior
The tiles are hand-made tile by Petersen Tegl, a studio outside of Copenhagen.
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tiles → make → Copenhagen
“Each has a thumbprint in them.”
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Each → have → them
Says Clarkson.
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Clarkson → say → ?
“The material itself is similar to the clay brick that is seen throughout Toronto, but it is moulded in a different way.”
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it → see → way
The nice thing is that it doesn’t feel too loud.
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it → feel → ?
The house gently blends into the streetscape.
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house → blend → streetscape
The Aporia
