Another Glebe home tour - part 2

Here are photos of the remainder of Kellie and Warren's new/old home. (Don't forget to get your tickets for the tour this Sunday! I can't wait!)

At the end of the first post I showed you the living room. Beyond is the an important room - the office where the homeowners run their business. And YES! it too has a garage door that opens up to the backyard. 

The table and chairs are vintage, made by a Montreal company called Samton. 

Now for upstairs. At the top of the stairs is a media room, which was designed so it could be sealed off in the future to create a fourth bedroom.

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Another Glebe home tour - part 1

On Sunday I had the honour of another personal tour of a home that is part of the Glebe House Tour this year. This home is quite a bit different than the last one (featured here and here) in that the structure of the original home was kept (but gutted) with a large addition in the rear. While I adored the first home I toured because it's modern, this one is the best of both worlds - a mix of old and new. Kellie Major and Warren Newberry are the owners, and have renovated/built 6 homes of their own so far. They're so good at it they left their jobs to start ReNew Homes, where they provide residential renovation project management and on-site support to homeowners who wish to renovate or build a custom designed home. (Maybe my husband and I should think about hiring them!) Kellie and Warren were awesome, their house is awesome, their dogs and kids are awesome....so why don't I just get to the photos? (Note: The tour is this Sunday so hurry and get your tickets!! My husband and I can't wait to tour them all.)

The lower level of the addition is an apartment (currently a temporary home for Kellie's mom).

The balcony leads off the new master bedroom.

My husband fell in love with this shed (clad in Kellie's favourite colour - teal).

Kellie and Warren have used these glass garage doors in 3 of their homes and love them. I always thought the climate here was too cold for these but now I'm sold. 

Now for the first peek of the interior. I took too many photos for one post so for now the dining room, kitchen and living room. Later today I'll show you the remaining spaces. 

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Robin Stubbert

Through the lens of a camera a room comes to life on page and screen. No point and click can suffice to capture the beauty and personality of a well designed space though. It takes an eye and a gift to transport the viewer into the picture, to experience what a room is all about. We know it though as something else ... room porn. Gorgeous snaps that make us dream, lust and covet. Welcome to the portfolio of photographer Robin Stubbert.

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A personal house tour (part 2)

As I mentioned earlier, here is part 2 of the tour of Scott and Jenny's home in the Glebe. I'll take you through the second floor that contains the dining room, kitchen and living room, the third floor where the bedrooms and a full bathroom are located, and the roof top deck. 

Art the top of the stairs to the second floor, is this interesting piece of art. It is the back of an old stove. The story goes (something along these lines anyway) an old man living in a trailer near Scott's family's cottage died when his old wood stove blew up. This is the lid of his stove, that Scott thought would look great as art. Kind of morbid, but a cool piece nonetheless. :)

The second floor is one big open space, with the kitchen at the top of the stairs, with the dining room to the left at the front of the house and the living room to the right. Their Ikea kitchen looks phenomenal. 

Scott made the concrete countertops. SWEET!!!

At this point, I nearly fainted. You NEVER see these folding patio doors up here. Maybe our decent weather is too short, or they don't keep out the cold very well in winter. Either way, I'm 100% jealous. The space is already large and open-concept...add these doors and OH-LA-LA. Jenny mentioned they may have some thick curtains made to help keep the space warm in winter.

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A personal house tour (part 1)

It's not often I get to share a house tour here on DTI that I actually got to tour personally. There is a beautiful and highly sought-after neighbourhood here in Ottawa called the Glebe, and each year for the past 12 years there has been a Glebe House Tour featuring several stunning homes in this area. I was contacted by the Chair of the tour committee, Suzanne (a devoted DTI reader), and she offered to take me on a personal tour of some of these homes. (The tour is Sunday, September 16th - details here).I got to visit one this past weekend and I cannot begin to tell you how cool this tour was. It was the home I've been dreaming about building for the past couple of years, and I am so excited to share it with you all. To begin, here's a bit of general info on the home: The homeowners transformed an energy-guzzling 1920s house into a “deep green” beauty. As a green building consultant, homeowner Scott used his expertise and knowledge of the One Planet Living movement as a guide. Scott and his wife Jenny gutted the home and used local, sustainable and reclaimed materials wherever possible. Some of the materials were then used for sliding doors, decorative acoustic panelling, floor finishes and main elements of the staircase. Heating demand has been slashed using solar passive design and super-insulated walls and windows. The new solar thermal system is used for hot water and space heating, while the photovoltaic (PV) system generates electricity. Jenny kindly took my husband and I through every room of their 1800 sq ft home and provided us with lots of great info which I'll include along with the photos I took when I wasn't busy drooling all over their gorgeous floors. 

A before photo:

In this post I'll show you the exterior and the first floor. The rest will come later today.

To start, here's the exterior with brick walls maintained from the old house. Slight transformation. ;)

 Love the large stone slabs as the step up to the porch.

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