Renovating a split-level 'museum'

A major renovation on Varna Crescent in the northwest community of Varsity is heralding the end of an era for one Calgary family; that era being the seventies.

Liisa Tipman and Arlen Babcock have been living in their vintage 1971, four-bedroom, stacked, split-level house since purchasing it in July, 2014. With all original decor, fixtures and fittings intact, friends and family joked the couple had bought a museum.

"It's a great house with good bones," Ms. Tipman says, "but it hadn't been upgraded at all when we bought it. Everything was just as it had been when it was built. We even found the remains of the original brown and gold seventies kitchen carpet under the dishwasher."

After shelving plans to gut the house until Calgary's economy improved, the couple finally gave the green light to their long-delayed renovation in November, 2016. Since then, the transformation has been dramatic.

"We've removed all of the internal walls on the upper level to create an open-plan kitchen, dining and living space," Ms. Tipman says, "and we've reconfigured the lower level to be more practical with another living space, bathroom and boot room."

They're also adding a large asymmetrical picture window to the front of the house for natural light and replacing the old stucco exterior with vertical hardboard.

The couple paid $637,500 for the 1,600-square-foot property, which sits on a large quarter-acre lot. At the time, it had been on the market for more than a year. Their first offer was rejected but negotiations opened up again several weeks later.

"We got the house for a good price, we know similar unrenovated properties on Varna Crescent sell for about $650,000 and renovated you're looking at between $800,000 and $850,000," Ms. Tipman says. "We've been trying to keep the overall cost of the renovation in line with that, but our plan is to live here for a long time so immediate return on investment isn't something we're too worried about. We already know our costs have run over."

Finding a neighbourhood to put down roots in was important to the couple, who have two daughters ages six and three.

"There's been no tear-downs on this street; everyone who's moved here has helped retain the character and the values of the street. It's a little old-fashioned but in a really good way. There's also no fences on the front yards and the pedestrian sidewalks are all at the back, so it's a very safe place for kids to grow up and be able to run around. There's a strong sense of community."

Ms. Tipman says this is why, while the renovation is extensive, it's important to her that the heart of the home is retained.

"We're not totally done with the seventies just yet," she says laughing, "we're just reinventing the era to better suit our needs.

"Before this, we were living in a 1950s bungalow in Brentwood," she adds. "This kind of home has always felt really good to us and we want to retain those aspects that we love while also creating a space that's more open and practical for our family life."

Architect and designer Yvonne Choe says the home will be "modern seventies" when it's done.

"We're using lots of warm-toned wood and natural materials for the interior, which is true to the era. The wooden flooring will be thinner planks and the doors will be plain, flat-panelled fir, again in-keeping with what was popular at the time the home was built. And we're keeping the original fireplace on the lower level."

"We're doing some built-ins as well, which was very seventies," she continues. "We'll have a built-in TV unit upstairs with wooden shelving and herringbone pea-green tiles."

But the project hasn't been without it's challenges.

"We knew we'd have to do asbestos abatement," Ms. Tipman says, "but we didn't realize there was asbestos in the drywall, too, so the job was much bigger than we originally planned. In the end, it worked out for the best though because we took it as an opportunity to upgrade the insulation."

"We also hadn't planned on needing the steel beam to remove the internal walls," she adds.

The steel beam Ms. Tipman is referring to is a 24-foot structural support, which had to be installed in the ceiling of the upper level to carry the weight of the roof.

"Because they have a flat roof, it's not supported with trusses, so we needed a beam to replace the load-bearing walls," says Vaughan Wallace of renovation specialist Wallace Fleming. "That beam will also carry any weight on the roof. We had a metre of snow last week, which is literally tonnes. That's why structural work like this relies on engineers and contractors who know what they're doing."

Mr. Wallace says removing interior walls in mid-century homes is one of the most sought-after renovations in Calgary.

"Homes from the fifties through to the seventies, which have been well built and well maintained, are very solid houses and we renovate a lot of them," he says. "This one is unusual because it's had nothing done to it for more than 40 years. It's good to see it get some attention."

Ms. Choe agrees. "Homes from the mid-century tend to have a lot of internal separation; small kitchens, formal dining rooms, less natural light. Opening them up by taking down walls is always the homeowner priority."

"There's definitely been an upturn in renovation work in Calgary in the last six months," she adds. "I think a lot of people like Liisa and Arlen are making that decision that the economy is as stable as it's going to be for a while, so let's go for it."