Order, geometry and logic create a sense of calm in Peterborough

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When designers Salina and Jason Marshall of Marshall Design Studio had a professional photographer document Jeffrey and Anne Parker’s Peterborough, Ont., house, the couple was on vacation.

Which makes sense, of course, but it was also too bad, “because you look like your house; it’s very reflective of your style, your personality,” Ms. Marshall says.

“Wow, I think that’s the best compliment anyone’s ever given me,” says Ms. Parker as she places her cup on the matte-black kitchen island.

But let’s be clear: this is not like the bulldog owner with the similarly drooping jowls; it’s more like if one were to peek in the Parkers’ closet, or cup hands on the bistro window to see what they’ve ordered for lunch.

The chunky amber-and-grey terrazzo tile in the foyer, which wraps around a corner to become the Malm fireplace hearth, for instance, speaks of informality, playfulness and love of mid-century modern design, but also of low maintenance and quick cleanup, which the shift-working health care providers require. So, too, does soundproofing achieved from pocket doors, and the walkout basement entrance to a guest bedroom “where sometimes I’ll sleep after I’ve been working all night,” says Mr. Parker.

The primary bedroom is also designed in such a way that one Parker can be tucked under the covers while the other is tucked away in the dressing area or shower, out of sight.

But it’s not all practicality. Prominent use of black in the kitchen – from backsplash and countertops to faucets and light fixtures – is purely an aesthetic choice. It’s bold, it’s graphic, it’s what the Parkers wanted and, adds Ms. Marshall, “was driven by the architectural [choices] – the outside being black, bringing some of that inside, and then same with the black windows.”

While one might not want to go all Stygian in a small bedroom (unless one is a teenager), it works here because of two things: the abundance of golden birch and the creamy-white cathedral ceiling. The birch, which is used on multiple screens throughout the space, informs the ribbed shape of the fireplace wall, and it clads “The Block.”

The Block, both couples laugh, was the name given to the slightly monolithic piece of millwork that presents itself as a coat closet upon entry (but is really a pantry and vacuum cleaner storage, the coat closet is elsewhere), and then turns a corner to become the fridge, then more storage, and then, finally, wraps to house a microwave and more storage opposite the couple’s espresso station.

“Sometimes I just walk by The Block and touch it because it’s so smooth and silky,” Ms. Parker says with a big laugh. “Even the kids will rub up against it.”

The high, peaked ceiling – under which are the public areas of the house – was present before the gutted-to-the-studs renovation, but the peak originally faced the other way. “A big turning point for the design was rotating this roof,” says Ms. Marshall, who met her clients while picking up her little one at preschool. “We had a 3-D model of it.”

“They had two models,” Mr. Parker corrects, “one with the roof this way, and one the other way, and we didn’t even look at the other one.”

The home, when the Parkers purchased it in 2021, looked pretty much as it had in the early 1950s, when a General Electric engineer (Peterborough had a huge GE plant for 126 years) drew up plans himself and, says Mr. Parker with a chuckle, “overbuilt everything.” On a deep yet rather narrow lot, the home, then as now, faces the long wall of shrubbery to the south rather than the street itself; it’s the two-car garage a passerby will notice first. And while that configuration might send a different owner into a teardown tizzy, the Parkers appreciate the buffer.

“Instead of volume we put our money into the details … quality over size,” Mr. Parker says.

He’s right: from the microcosm of machined, black light switches and floor vents camouflaged in wood or tile, to the macro of millwork so precise gaps almost disappear (by Kawartha Cabinets) or, on the exterior, the gorgeous New Brunswick Fraser siding and a standing seam roof so crisp one could use it to fold origami, it’s a visual and tactile dream of a dwelling. When everything follows a certain order, geometry and logic, a sense of calm results.

“People may not even realize it, but [they do] subconsciously notice it’s a real material,” says Mr. Marshall, looking down at the white oak floors. “You can tell fake wood.”

The couple’s collection of artwork is equally ‘real’ and includes an Indigenous stone print purchased when the couple lived in Iqaluit, and actual red-and-blue 3-D screen prints (that come with glasses!) by Paul G. Hammond and Seth A. Smith.

Inside or out, whether in the private or public areas, it’s a strikingly modern yet warm and unpretentious house that reflects its owners to a T. And while it was hard finding a local contractor who grasped this type of build, the Marshalls and Parkers were thrilled with Alan Didone Construction Ltd.

“You won’t find a house like this in Peterborough,” says Mr. Marshall, matter-of-factly. “No matter how hard you look.”

“I think the big thing is that we come home to a house that makes us happy,” finishes Mr. Parker.