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The 5,300-square-foot, two-storey urban villa in Oakville, Ont. designed for a couple with two teenaged sons by Toronto designer Guido CostantinoDomenica Roda

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The house turns a stern face to the street, with strong, long horizontal shapes that insist on the earth-bound character of the composition and large expanses of frosted and clear glass that conceal more than they reveal. There is no obvious front door. Approaching the streetside façade by way of the wide concrete slabs that separate it from the lawn, the visitor realizes only at the last minute that there is in fact a passageway through the glass wall into the interior, created when one of the tall, translucent panels swings open.Domenica Roda

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The home is composed of bold oblong volumes with walls of floor-to-ceiling glass in black aluminum frames, dark grey brick and sheets of black anodized aluminum.Domenica Roda

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The swimming pool in the back gardenDomenica Roda

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Domenica Roda

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The open space that blends living room and dining room shows architect Guido Constantino’s determination to keep things plain. To the left is the kitchen, and straight ahead is a carefully constructed vista that carries the eye straight along the polished concrete floor, through the glass wall at the rear, and out to the swimming pool in the back garden.Domenica Roda

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This determination to keep things plain extends into the internal spaces of the house.Domenica Roda

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The monochromatic colour scheme throughout – white interior walls, black trim, floors clad in grey concrete or bleached maple – recall the aesthetic priorities of the modern movement.Domenica Roda

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