Toronto home of Stephen Wicks and Suzanne Robinson remains true to its heritage with an extensive renovation that took a playful approach to bringing natural light indoors.Scott Norsworthy
Most of us have played a game of peekaboo with a baby or toddler. It’s a game of surprise and delight, of things that hide in plain view (and the reappearance of those things) that make both participants giggle with abandon.
So, too, one can play a more sophisticated version of this game in architecture. It works especially well with older Toronto houses, such as Victorians or Edwardians, where things hiding in plain view, such as natural light, can be coaxed back inside if the right people – with the right skill set – are called upon to help.
“I just remember the crookedness,” says interior designer Alana Boychuk. “Crooked, narrow, dark, and you used the word slalom, which always stuck in my head.”
Homeowner Stephen Wicks nods: “Basically, the hallway came like this and then jutted,” he says, simulating the hip action of a skier, “and there were French doors there, doors here … everything was tight; whenever we had more than three people over, someone would be sitting in another area. I was just knocking into stuff all the time.”
A chance encounter between Mr. Wicks and Ms. Boychuk’s life/business partner Tristan Fuller – they started the firm Boychuk Fuller in 2007 – at the local grocery store got the ball rolling. The two couples had met years before at a dinner party hosted by a gallery owner (Ms. Robinson and Mr. Wicks enjoy collecting local art) and they’d gotten along so well they’d broken bread again at the Boychuk/Fuller residence in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood.
Losing track of each other for a bit, the chance encounter occurred after Mr. Wicks and his wife, Suzanne Robinson, moved into an Edwardian house close by. And while they’d already had the main floor powder room and the kitchen renovated, all that slaloming was getting on their nerves. So, the inevitable question was posed: “Do you know a good architect?”
“And I told him, ‘If you’re not going to flatten the whole thing you don’t need an architect, you can hire qualified designers,’” says Mr. Fuller.
Qualified is a definite understatement. While the façade of the Wicks/Robinson house remains true to its heritage, the keen observer will notice the new door, the slim, modern door frame and the sexy black granite sill. Further examination will reveal the old wooden porch columns have been replaced with sturdy bent steel.
Step inside, and, peekaboo, a sliver of foyer wall has been eliminated to catch a fleeting glance of the front living room. “It just adds a little something as you’re opening the door,” says Mr. Fuller, who adds that the concrete-look foyer floor is heated for those colder months.
Directly ahead is a light-filled stairwell to the second floor, but a guest will likely be welcomed into that living room, where she’ll be warmed by a wood-burning fireplace while contemplating that sliver in the wall, which will now read as a ribbon of light. Or, she’ll make her past the wall bench – a subtle way of defining the terminus of the living area – to the dining table.
Toronto home of Stephen Wicks and Suzanne Robinson. Design by Boychuk Fuller.Scott Norsworthy
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Taking a seat at the table, she’ll likely ask about the lovely, round-cornered cabinet built into the stair. Not only is it a great place for the couple’s turntable, it also provides storage while also hiding the main air return and supply. “As to Stephen’s point about slaloming, we were cognizant that this is a pinch-point here,” says Ms. Boychuk, “so the curve helps ease that transition between the two spaces.”
Another new transition to the lowered and fully renovated basement is just past the powder room and kitchen. Here, Boychuk Fuller have replaced the existing “shack” addition with a bump out containing a mud room/art gallery wall/kitchen tie-in/golden wood staircase. Tall, twin 9-foot-6-inch apertures (a door and a window) allow so many photons to penetrate that the basement landing and first few feet of polished concrete floor are illuminated well enough that a quick trip to the wine fridge doesn’t require the flick of a light switch.
On the second floor there are two children’s rooms with ample storage and a full bath in mossy green tile (picked by the kids) with custom millwork.
As on the second floor, hallways were widened on the third. By “adjusting the joists” around the dormer window on this floor, Boychuk Fuller were able to achieve even more usable space. And while a visitor won’t notice that, they will note access to a deck facing the street, a home office, and the principal bedroom.
However, it’s the principal bathroom that will cause the visitor’s jaw to drop. An oversized skylight has created a trompe l’oeil in the shower: with the absence of a frame or hardware, it seems as if one is standing under the clouds. It’s so bright, too, the homeowners might consider leaving a pair of sunglasses beside the loofah.
“The drawback is that you have to clean it a little more often,” Mr. Fuller says of the skylight.
No matter, says Ms. Robinson: “It is so fun to take a shower at night when you can see the stars, or when it’s raining.”
And suppose it’s possible to stop playing peekaboo with all of the natural light now bouncing around this renovation. In that case, the visitor might notice the meticulous attention to trim, tactility, the luxurious materials palette, multiple pocket doors, the warmth so much wood, and the thoughtfulness of nooks where personal items can be stashed.
“Function gets pitched as dull … like it’s cod liver oil,” says Ms. Boychuk. “But it can be so satisfying if it’s balanced, obviously, with a pleasing form. And I think you can derive pleasure at being able to find your keys at the end of the day.”