When the other side of Deborah and Denis Harrison's 1872 terrace house came up for sale, a sense of longing, and then foreboding, washed over them. What if the new owners painted their half purple? What if they let the place get run down?
When the look and feel of your house so heavily hinges on the sum of two parts, being on the same page as your neighbour can make all the difference in the world. But the Harrisons knew from experience that page can be rewritten. So they got busy and hatched a plan to buy the other half themselves.
"The initial investment was emotional, but as time went on we wondered how we were going to pay for it," Deborah explains. "We wanted it mainly because we loved it, but we were also concerned about protecting our investment on the other side."
With four grown children, ranging from 21 to 31 and all living away from home, half a house was perfect for the empty nesters, but cramped on holidays if everyone came home. That too got them thinking. The Harrisons realized having the other half of the house for visiting family and friends would be a perfect, albeit expensive solution. Then, as often happens in life, a simple comment opened up a new world of opportunity. A friend said to me, 'You could rent the place out when you're not using it,' " recalls Deborah. A light went on and the rest is history as they say.
In September, 2008, the Harrisons took the leap and bought the other half of the terrace house for $240,000. They then spent the next year and $45,000 doing repairs and upgrades, much of it themselves so they could keep costs down. Deborah, who'd honed a natural aptitude for decorating and landscaping while she was a stay-at-home mom, got busy and put her magic - and her muscles - to work.
Denis, who's the crown attorney for Perth County, traded his business suit for handyman clothes every weekend and the two of them painted the entire exterior of the house last summer, saving an estimated $18,000 by doing it themselves. But the main wall was overgrown with English ivy, so before they could start they had to hire a strong, young man with a very tall ladder to rip it down and haul it away. The Harrisons then spent what seemed like endless days scraping away the leftover suckers, which was followed by more endless days of priming and painting.
Some work the Harrisons just couldn't do themselves so they hired professionals. For example, while they did the outside painting, a professional was painting the inside. "We had to have help or it would have gone on forever," says Deborah. "We painted everything that didn't move."
They also spent $13,000 hiring local stonemason Dale Thomas, who built an elite blue granite retaining wall and matching front steps on the new side so it matched the other side. Another $8,000 went to repairing and restoring the front porch to its original symmetry. And $5,500 was spent replacing the royal blue, painted wooden countertops in the kitchen with Carrara marble countertops and a backsplash. The Harrisons added an eye-popping, double turquoise porcelain sink. The upstairs bathroom was completely gutted. Out went the varnished cedar walls and in went a marble floor and tub surround, plus a new toilet and vanity. Price tag $6,000.
"To me, a bathroom is a place that has to be fresh and clean and there was no way to bring this one back," explains Deborah. "We could spend money on these kinds of improvements because we didn't have to touch the plumbing or electrical. The bones of the house were good. If they hadn't been, we would have had to walk away from it."
The small courtyard out back was neglected and overgrown, and the old red patio stones were full of weeds. The Harrisons gave it a good clean-up and replaced the patio stones with pea gravel. The good-sized magnolia, weeping nootka and Japanese red maple now take their rightful place as focal points. Both terrace house gardens are on the July 4 Stratford & District Horticultural Society Garden Tour.
Gathering the furnishings, art, decorative pieces and linens for the new side was a true labour of love for Deborah, whose creative touch and tasteful eye are evident throughout the house. Some pieces came from friends, others from local and area auctions, antique shows and salvage shops. She also combed fabric shops and discount home furnishing stores for bargains - and found them.
Take, for example, the Ralph Lauren ball fringe she got for $2 a metre, regularly priced at $65 a metre. She bought all they had and it now appears on assorted curtains and blinds she made herself and on the edge of shelving in one of the bedrooms. Bargains were also plentiful at auctions and antique shows. Some pieces she used as is, some were recovered and others she painted. "If you can take something and repurpose it, it's just so much fun," she says. "It's also a lot more affordable."
The biggest challenge in fixing up the other half of the house? "Everything takes longer than you think it's going to, and there's more to do than you realize," says Deborah. "Once you get going and really look carefully you think, 'I can't live with this' so then you have to change that too."
The best part about fixing it up? "The shopping," she says with a grin.
The transformation really was a his-and-her effort, she emphasizes. "I was the decorator, but we couldn't have done all this without Denny. I may have painted the bed, but he had to move it. Let's just say I'm the brains. He's the brawn," she jokes.
Now that the work is finished, the Harrisons are on to part two of the plan: the renting. The fully furnished, two-bedroom, two-bathroom terrace house with den and study is now available for $1,500 a week. They've named the house Verandah, and created a website for it (www.verandah.ca) and they've listed it with Vacation Rentals by Owner. They've already got four bookings for the summer.
"Buying the other side of this house has really improved the quality of our lives," says Deborah. "It makes us feel truly settled and secure in our own side. Before, we always saw what wasn't done over there, which bothered us since we have a great deal of pride of place. It always felt like something wasn't finished.
"Now, it's finished."
Special to The Globe and Mail