The Oakville home before renovation. The detached dwelling began its career, in 1953, as a $22,000 back-split. The unknown architect clearly admired the then-fashionable open-plan approach to the distribution of interior space but some concessions were made to traditional demands, for instance for a dining room. The abruptly formal, dark, little room on the main level, positioned at a distance, both spatially and psychologically, from the kitchen.