Light-filled Mississauga home with a Palm Springs vibe

Open this photo in gallery:

811 Indian Rd., Mississauga

Asking price: $3,199,900

Taxes: $12,015.30 (2023)

Lot size: 80 by 253.69 feet

Agents: Colin Comrie and Karen Bannerman, iPro Realty

The backstory

Dwayne and Rose Brown have been captivated by the Palm Springs lifestyle from the first time they visited the city in the California desert around the year 2000.

They’ve returned many times over the years while visiting family on the U.S. West Coast.

“We’re drawn to that lifestyle of hiking in the morning and then having coffee and chilling out in the afternoon,” says Mr. Brown.

Beginning in the late 1920s, modernist architects working in Palm Springs created an iconic style of clean lines, walls of glass and open spaces.

The couple learned that the connection between the interior and exterior of the home is very important to the Palm Springs experience, Mr. Brown says, with outdoor living spaces treated as an extension of the rooms inside.

The couple brought some of that relaxed informality to the Toronto houses they’ve owned over the years, Mr. Brown says.

In 2013, the couple decided to take their devotion a step further and find an authentic mid-century house with enough surrounding land to create a true Palm Springs vibe.

Their search led them to Mississauga, where the Lorne Park neighbourhood offered a selection of houses built on expansive lots during the mid-20th century.

They settled on a one-storey detached house built in 1970 with the type of open plan, angled roof line and 10-foot vaulted ceilings they were looking for.

The only drawback was that the property was marketed more as a “Muskoka in the backyard” retreat than a sunny desert resort.

“It was so treed and so shaded,” Mr. Brown says of the landscape surrounding the house.

The couple purchased the property and set out to turn the aesthetic from dark and woodsy into stylish and light-filled.

The house today

The Browns spent their first summer in the home refurbishing the original poured concrete swimming pool, which had been neglected over the decades.

Repairs were made, a new surround was laid, and the interior was repainted.

“It basically brought it back to life,” says Mr. Brown.

After that, the couple transformed the landscaping by taking down some of the shade trees close to the house and creating more modern, low-maintenance gardens.

The renovation of the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home continued gradually over the years with new heating and cooling systems and ultra energy-efficient windows. The tilt-and-turn style allows air to flow through the house while providing good security, Mr. Brown says.

The floor plan of the L-shaped home was already well laid-out for the couple and their son, Kaden, says Mr. Brown.

Kaden’s bedroom and a guest room are in one wing while the primary suite and a sitting room are in the other with the main living areas separating the two spaces.

The Browns preserved some of the original elements of the home, including a fireplace surround and feature walls built of Port Credit stone.

In the kitchen, they kept the layout of the cabinets but added new doors faced in walnut. They also upgraded the appliances and chose speckled quartz countertops in keeping with the mid-century style.

Previous owners had replaced the original flooring with maple floors in a natural stain throughout the main rooms of the house.

Over the years, Mr. Brown – who works in the technology industry – added many “smart home” and eco-friendly features, including lighting, security and an in-ground sprinkler system. The roof is topped with an energy-efficient rolled roofing material.

Renovating the bathrooms with water-conserving “smart” toilets, heated floors and large-scale porcelain tile was the most recent project.

Ms. Brown, who has a career in the hotel industry, makes most of the furniture and décor choices, Mr. Brown says, while he enjoys working on renovation projects himself and calling in the experts when he needs to.

“This becomes our passion – our hobby,” he says.

Mr. Brown says the family easily made the transition from Toronto to Lorne Park, which lies close to Lake Ontario in southwest Mississauga. Port Credit’s shops, restaurants and marina are nearby, along with the beaches of Jack Darling Memorial Park and the Rattray Marsh Conservation Area.

The best feature

Open this photo in gallery:

Digging for the backyard swimming pool took place in 1971, according to building permit records. The owners at the time also built a five-foot wide concrete tunnel and an underground sauna – also set in a poured concrete box. Stairs from the tunnel lead up to the cabana next to the pool.

“I can only imagine the excavation they had in this yard,” says Mr. Brown.

One project during the Browns’ tenure included refurbishing and waterproofing the tunnel. The walls are painted blue to match the pool and ceiling tiles ripple like sunlight on water.

Today the tunnel provides a quick connection between the pool area and the lower-level recreation room and bathroom.

The cabana has been rebuilt with walls of windows, a lounging area, and a separate area for storing pool equipment.

Mr. Brown was chatting with one former neighbour who still remembers the vintage cabana as a popular place to hangout in the 1970s.

“It was the party room at the time.”