Names: Siena (a graphic designer) Charles (a professor) & Cale (their son)
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Size: 1980 square feet
Years lived in: 3.5
Siena is a Chicagoan who made the move to Toronto six years ago and went on the hunt for a modern space to call home. She and her family settled in a poured concrete townhouse and proceeded to make a very streamlined, sleek minimal city space work as a fresh, inviting, warm family home through the use of good design, lots of texture and the injection of art and plants...
In Siena's own words: We had a very difficult time finding anything modern. In Chicago the proportions are very different then the Victorian roots in toronto.
We found and now live in a townhouse that is attached to two tall builings called "Radio City". We bought in pre-construction and had a chance to make some choices before it was built. The building is poured concrete - white and concrete has been my motto. I find living in this home is quite cinematic. There are large windows at both ends of the house. The front is close to the street. I find it amazing to sit in my kitchen and watch the world. In the back I planted cold weather bamboo and after 3 years it's at 15 ft and quite amazing to watch grow year to year.
AT Survey:
Our style: Clean, functional and neo-modern. I love white to be the gallery walls for our life. I grew up in Chicago warehouses so I’m always looking for the open spaces in our house.
Inspiration: The local quality of light, Toronto’s white brick mid-century modernism, and the blurring of public and private.
Favorite Element: The bamboo in the back patio that you can see through the stairs. I researched these for a long time, and they exceeded my expectations. I planted them 3 years ago at 2 feet tall, hoping for the best. On our first winter we were in Rome and I just left them with no protection. That summer we came back one had died, and on the rest the leaves where brown. I went to the place I had bought them (Fiesta Farms) and asked. They told me to get all the brown leaves off, mulch, and next winter put burlap around them. I did this and come April when it was time to take the burlap off they were 100% green. They are the first green of the spring. They are currently 15 ft tall and growing!
Biggest Challenge: Making a new development be ours. This townhouse is in the center of Toronto and part if a building called Radio City which was a collaboration between several of Toronto’s urbanists, architects, and developers.
What Friends Say: Many friends ask us where all of our stuff is.
Biggest Embarrassment: The acoustic implications of the floor finishes, extensive glass, and hollow core doors. The floors are engineered and paper thin, while the concrete and glass are reflective of the creaking of hollow core doors. The house photographs better than it sounds.
Proudest DIY: The built-in’s and the hidden desk on the second floor. These are standard Ikea kitchen cabinets and after many measurements and figuring we found the combination that fit. My whole office and all media equipment fit behind these.
Biggest Indulgence: Living in the center of the city and walking to work.
Best advice: Start with a clear, simple idea and stick to it the best you can. Stay positive!
(Thanks, Siena, Charles & Cale!)
Images: Siena
Love the front door. Where do I get one of those pigs on the dinning table, I have seen them before?
view plastolux's profile
Where is the ottoman/sofa from?
view DBX00's profile
plastolux-pig-http://www.unicahome.com/catalog/item.asp?id=15279&PartnerID=SLI
When I first saw the living room I though nice and clean but where does one get cozy to lay down and read a book? Lucky you have the space for cozy sofa too!
I really like your master bedroom, nice large sitting reading area layout and the palette is fresh.
I can see why the bamboo is important since you have so many windows the green coming into the space from nature is really lovely.
view LoriSF's profile
I would love to know the source for the front door.
view debsam's profile
You can get the pig currently at the Port Authority in NYC, near 42nd street. There is a design " store" open now, but only till the end of this month. It also comes in gold ( I think it was about $250)
view Aster's profile
wow, what a beautiful home! i envy your son, getting to grow up in such a beautiful, modern space.
view davidsl's profile
I have bamboo which, sadly, isn't happy in my Toronto backyard.
So if I go to Fiesta, what should I ask them for? Your bamboo really looks gorgeous.
Lovely home - very homey.
view suewanda's profile
I love what looks to be a fabric lamp on the wall in picture 9...does anyone know where I can find something similar?
view duhisall's profile
This house is so gorgeous! I love the climbing plant on the terrace. Anybody knows what it is? I'm a complete garden nitwit.
view Elise_B's profile
Love those dinning chair does anyone know where I can found them?
view designya's profile
Dinning chairs are Eames Dinning Chairs and you can find them new on Hivemodern or used on ebay or other sources.
view Anusha73's profile
I love this place. Nice outdoor space. Too bad the acoustics don't sound as good as this house looks.
view wild-er's profile
I LOVE that place. The pale green panel is perfect. The flower is gret. The "living area" looks rather vacant and unlivable. While is like the looks of the ottoman on it's own, I don't see it at all as being functional. Do you hang out at the dinner table? I think you need a sofa. Stick with your cool esthetics!
view Laughing Tiger's profile
Where did you buy the solar system hanging from the ceiling in your son's room?
view beautifulbrains's profile
Beautiful bamboo indeed! The child's room is to die for!
Please tell us the source of that cozy looking sofa.
view mjr's profile
Great home. The pig is right at the spot!
I was wondering where that light grey sofa/ottoman from...Would really appreciated it if you can provide some info on it.
cheers.
view Silly's profile
Wow, I have such a different definition of "warm, family home." I really like this place but it seems more like a
"cool bachelor home."
view MiklakMiklak's profile
Very nice, but it does look cool.
How do you insulate a house with concrete structure like this? Since it's in Toronto, you do have winters with minus 10 to 20 degrees at least?
Bamboos expand and you will start finding small shoots coming out of the earth at the oddest place in a few years! We eat them in Japan when shoots are still underground. If yours is edible, you can try them!
view nobuofsaintecroix's profile
beautifulbrains - that solar system is either pottery barn kids or land of nod -- we have one, but I can't remember from which we got it (a couple of years ago).
view egay's profile
Also, what kind of bamboo and what is the vine (or plant) on the wood fencing, pls?
view egay's profile
Hi - it is very lovely but too cold looking for me. I am into cozy and warm.
view Betty14's profile
Any answer on that awesome couch/ottoman???
view miamilori's profile
After extensive searching, the sofa is from M2L - Domino Collection by Dick Spierenburg
view DBX00's profile
The pig is from Areaware (the pop-up store in New York is gone now). It's called Bank in the Form of a Pig:
http://areaware.com/proddetail.asp?prod=harpw&CatID=9&subCatID=56
In Toronto, it's available at several stores, including Ministry of the Interior on Ossington (or at the Future Perfect if you're in New York).
nobuofsaintecroix: The building itself is well insulated...many modern buildings here are finished with interior concrete.
view estydesign's profile