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15 KINGSWORTH RD.

What: A four-bedroom, five-bathroom house set on two acres with mature trees and English-style perennial gardens in King City.

Living space: approximately 5,000 square feet

Asking price: $2.45-million

Taxes: not available

Agent: Farquharson Realty Ltd. (Dan Farquharson and Mona Dahl Farquharson)

The modest bungalow that stood at 15 Kingsworth Rd. for nearly 50 years was cramped and faded when the current owners took over.

"It was tired," says the homeowner, who lives in the house with her husband and three children.

The way houses were built back in the 1950s, she says, just doesn't suit the way modern families have become accustomed to living.

The kitchen was cut off from the rest of the house, she explains, and the 1950s appeal had all been subverted by renovations in the 1970s and '80s.

The homeowner, a former lawyer, loves to work on houses. She put her research skills to work in finding materials that would give the newly renovated house the patina of an old English estate.

A family vacation in England inspired the transformation.

"What's not to love?," she says of the English country houses and gardens.

She found some of that same ambience in King City, surrounded as it is by farmland and horse country. "King is so lovely and I wanted really to complement the location more than anything."

As much as the owner loved the grandeur of some of the formal houses and gardens she had seen in Britain, those in the Lake District really influenced her style.

"I wanted the warmth of that Lake District home because I thought it really suited King City," she says. "The classic Georgian country house is a beautiful thing but it's more formal than I wanted to achieve."

The couple decided to keep the footprint of the older bungalow but they had a large second-storey addition built.

"Living in it is what tells you what to do," she says. "We built it around the way we live."

That means a foyer that provides lots of space for greeting guests and room for friends to mingle. Doors lead from the foyer to each of the principal rooms. But the family dispensed with the formal living room because such rooms are so rarely used.

"We have dinner parties so we have a formal dining room and we think that's very important," says the owner.

To recreate the ambience of a stately English house, the homeowner had high ceilings installed and added plaster crown mouldings.

For the kitchen, she found some reclaimed wood doors and had them integrated into the island.

"The grain of wood is different if it's old."

The large kitchen with high-end appliances replaced a small galley-style cooking area.

So dramatic is the transformation, she says, that the kids have started to cook.

"It's had quite the impact on family life. When you have teenagers, it's really important to have everyone coming together."

The focal point of the dining room is a large fireplace with marble surround. Installing the fireplace caused some consternation with the builders, she says, but it worked well in the end. One side faces into the dining room, while the other warms the solarium.

"I'm really thrilled with the way it turned out."

The homeowner also brought in some influences from her background in British Columbia.

"I grew up in those West Coast houses with all the windows. We have light coming in all day from somewhere."

That sensibility extends to the main-floor master bedroom, which has French doors leading to a sitting area beside the garden.

"I'm from the rain forest and when I look out the window I love to see green."

The floors throughout the house are walnut and honed stone. In the bedroom, marble floors have underfloor heating.

"I like the warmth and I like the texture," says the homeowner.

The exterior of the house is faced with 100-year-old reclaimed Credit Valley stone.

The entrance to the mud room is from the garage. That allows the family members to carry in all of their belongings and put them immediately into built-in shelves and storage areas.

"It's so easy to have them organized when it's properly set up," she says.

Outside, the house has a pool and vast lawns where the kids often play badminton or softball.

"It's like living in a park," says the homeowner. "People don't tend to fence things."

The amenities

Visitors to the house enter a huge foyer with marble floors, sweeping staircase and plenty of room for a cocktail party.

The great room has a large kitchen and a sitting area overlooking the garden.

In the kitchen, a large island also serves as a breakfast bar. Along the wall are built-in cabinets, a wine rack and an alcove.

A dining room with a double-sided marble fireplace overlooks the pool and grounds.

The main floor also includes the master bedroom with ensuite bathroom, which has a large soaker tub and a walk-in shower with tumbled marble floors.

At the other end of the house, a large mud room accommodates sports equipment and the paraphernalia of family life.

The solarium has heated slate floors and French doors leading to the deck.

Upstairs, two bedrooms share an ensuite bathroom.

Outside, the house has an in-ground swimming pool, flower beds and rolling lawns.