Project Winner

This 3,500-square-foot house on a Toronto ravine knits together renovations, additions and remnants of the original 1930s dwelling that suffered from a lack of relationship to the ravine, small windows and a rabbit warren of small rooms.

The interior was gutted, except for the Arts and Crafts staircase. New black zinc panels and preserved local Ontario limestone and cedar siding tie the house to the streetscape of early to mid-20th-century styles. The gable roof was removed allowing the masonry box to become a plinth for a top floor addition that hangs down over the front of the house. The massing of this addition was scaled down to respect the neighbouring houses.

The rear addition has 10-foot-high windows to exploit the view. The master bedroom suite on the new third floor also faces the back yard, floating like a tree house amidst the densely wooded ravine. The master bathroom, featuring resin-embedded river stone, cantilevers out over the existing house. Inside, the ground-floor has millwork of walnut, deeply veined marble and blackened steel. Walls open at corners, giving tantalizing glimpses of adjacent rooms.

Banse: That’s cool, the cantilevered kitchen table.
Bullock: Yes, it’s amazing.
Robbie: Great fireplace detailing.
Daoust: There are many wonderful details here.