Glebe House Tour 2015 - part 1

It is that time of year again....the Glebe House Tour is coming up September 20th. Get your tickets HERE! This is one of my favourite local events - when a select group of people in one of the coolest neighbourhoods in Ottawa open up their homes for us nosy folk. :) There's nothing like snooping through a stranger's home (it is a well guarded tour I might add) without them present so you can OH! and AH! and HUH? to your heart's content. I was given a personal tour by the owners of one of the homes on the tour (thank you Michel and Lara!, and the kids who I did not get to meet but who cleaned their rooms for me!), and I really lucked out because this house is almost identical to mine so it was really interesting to see how someone else made over the same spaces. In this case the owners have gone to town renovating what was once a very neglected home. Over the past 6 years they have worked on every single nook and cranny to restore and update to their liking. And boy do I like! I always have a hard time narrowing down the photos of these house tours so this post will be the exterior front and main level and the next post will be the second floor and backyard. (Posts from last year's tour here and here) 

 

There's a surprise behind that door :)

All of the original oak doors/trim/window frames/beams are so beautiful and OMG the time it must have taken to restore it all... That's the vestibule door in the middle, with the living room on the left and the dining room to the right.

When the homeowners first moved in things were in such rough shape the family of four all lived in one room for a while. I may not get these numbers quite right but they lived without a kitchen for 6 months and without a bathroom for 1 month. 

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The extension

I really think that the national pastime of Australians is renovating and the the holy grail is the house extension. We all have dreams of taking a small, pokey period property and blowing out the back to create an open plan inside/outside family relaxation and entertaining space that doubles our floor space and exponentially explodes our enjoyment of home life. Like this fab reno and extension of a Kensington, Sydney house by Angus Mackenzie Architect.

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House in Double Bay

The face it presents to the street is quite stern. Box-like, no adornment, a little severe. The architects call it a "nod to the Victorian character of the street without any of the attendant frou frou." Open the door and the mood changes. Although still minimalist there is a warmth conveyed but the lightest of pastel shades and the extensive use of wood. The small space is enhanced by furniture and fittings that stand on narrow legs allowing longer sight lines while a double height void opens up the room. I'd love to see how this house mellows over time as the new owners put their stamp on the clean contemporary lines. House in Double Bay by Sydney-based architectural studio Tribe.

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Kitchen love

This kitchen is retrolicious and one of the few times I really dig yellow. By Atticus & Milo.

Goodwill Hunting

I had to revisit the home of interior designer Caecilia Potter as it is one of my all-time favourite homes we have featured on the blog. A Victorian mansion in Melbourne, Australia, this home is spectacular in its stateliness, architecture, furnishings....everything. It is EVERYTHING. (Photos: Atticus & Milo and The Design Files)

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