St Clarens

This comprehensive renovation of a Victorian house in Toronto sets a clean, contemporary intervention against the building's original character. VFA Architecture + Design retained the features that give the house its identity, including the crafted staircase, the arched front windows and an exposed red brick wall. The front façade, tall and narrow with a gabled roof and built from brick and mortar, is quintessentially of its period and was respected and preserved throughout the design process.

The boldest change happens at the rear. Here the house takes on a rectilinear form, with dark charcoal side panelling and generous glazing that opens up the basement and ground floor of a formerly introverted home. That new elevation also becomes the family's main point of access.

The brief called for a home redesigned with economic efficiency for a young family, so a series of pragmatic spaces was inserted for contemporary living: a ground floor powder room, a home office, abundant storage, and a mudroom that doubles as a playroom and can change purpose over time. Durable, value engineered materials run throughout, interposed with touches of luxuriant accent.

Detailing carries the contrast between old and new. On the main floor a glass partition sits flush beneath the original wooden stairs to the upper level. In the kitchen, marble counters meet the warm tonal variation of wood veneer cabinetry and brick. The upstairs master bathroom pairs penny tile and brass fixtures with a long, smooth marble countertop and built in niches, for a quiet sense of opulence. In the master bedroom a continuous vanity and run of cabinetry follow the A-shape of the roofline, joined by a linear bathroom that leads through to a bright office with a patio overlooking the yard.

Careful spatial planning and highly integrated millwork put every square inch of this narrow home to use, balancing the family's practical needs against a sense of space, so the result feels both intimate and generous.

Architecture and interior design by VFA Architecture + Design. Photography by Scott Norsworthy.