A Beaches reno makes the most of a slim house
Lorca Moore descends the staircase in her renovated century-old home in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood.Shai Gil
Ms. Moore in the kitchen. The kitchen island was made to be somewhat portable. ‘We put it on wheels, ‘ says architect Drew Mandel. ‘It may have started out as a joke.’Shai Gil
Left to right, Drew Mandel, Lorca Moore and Chris Nicholls.Dave LeBlanc/The Globe and Mail
Finlay in front of the fireplace. ‘Some people look at it and say ‘Oh, when are you going to finish it?” says Mr. Nicholls of the fireplace surround with the bonus worker’s notes.Chris Nicholls
The living room. ‘There’s a lot of noise on construction projects,’ offers Mr. Mandel, ‘and I think it takes a good team to keep your eye on the end result.’ Adds Ms. Moore: ‘There were some tears.’Chris Nicholls
‘One error begets another feature,’ says Mr. Mandel about the steel bracket over the living room couch.Shai Gil
The kitchen. About millworker David O’Sullivan, the architect says: ‘I design it and he fixes it.’Shai Gil
‘It’s been a real credit to Drew’s decency that he’s seen it through and held our hands in a way far above and beyond his professional duties,’ says Ms. Moore. ‘And that really has set the tone, because of course it was stressful, of course it took longer and cost more.’Shai Gil
Ms. Moore on the front steps for her Beaches home, with son Aiden, left, and daughter Finlay, right.Shai Gil
Neighbourhood reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, says Ms. Moore, which might be because this isn’t one of the “official” streets of the Beaches neighbourhood, “like Balsam [and] Beech, where there’s sort of an expectation that you’ll maintain a certain Craftsman [style], whereas this street is a real mish-mash.”Shai Gil
Ms. Moore says her friends say “Oh wow, it must be so different with that huge addition you put on’ and we’re like ‘Actually we have a 5-by-8 foot addition and it’s not a bedroom.’ Space is so precious in a narrow house.’Shai Gil
Shai Gil