At the height of Toronto’s real estate euphoria, an unusual confluence of events led Mark McAdam and Vincz Lee to purchase a sturdy Edwardian-era house sight unseen.
The couple made an appointment to tour the home in the city’s Riverdale neighbourhood before flying to Portugal that night. Suddenly all viewings were cancelled, and the two were faced with the choice of tossing in a bid or missing out.
“We went in fast,” says Mr. McAdam.
On the way to the airport, Ms. Lee called her mother to break the news: “We bought a house.”
That significant milestone was followed by Mr. McAdam’s romantic sunset proposal on the edge of a sandstone cliff in the Algarve.
The newly engaged couple returned from Europe to tackle the more prosaic business of taking possession of a rundown 2 1/2-storey detached house with a dark interior and odd layout.
Nanne Springer/Supplied
Despite the challenges, Mr. McAdam and Ms. Lee were mostly undaunted, they say, because they had landed their ideal location on a leafy street near Withrow Park. They also knew they would renovate eventually.
When that time came, the couple brought in architects Winda Lau and Andrea Yeatman of Toronto-based Studio Lau to transform the early 20th-century residence into a contemporary family home.
Mr. McAdam found the chopped-up spaces oppressive – especially compared with his former address at a light-filled loft on nearby Broadview Avenue.
“Open it up,” was his simple appeal to the architects on their first visit.
Ms. Lee also felt the urgent need for change after the arrival of the couple’s son Carter in 2023.
“I wanted him to be able to play in a bright space,” she says.
Ms. Lau and Ms. Yeatman concentrate much of their practice on reconfiguring the long hallways and formal rooms of Toronto’s Victorian and Edwardian-era houses, which create gloomy interiors and formal rooms that no longer serve the way that most families live today.
Nanne Springer/Supplied
“Natural light is always the initial driver,” Ms. Lau says of the projects they take on.
The architects also favour creating flexible spaces so all areas are useful in daily life and can evolve over time.
Ms. Lau and Ms. Yeatman admired the Riverdale home’s brick exterior, but they found little remaining character in the interior after a poor renovation in the 1980s, they say.
“It had beautiful bones, but it needed to be opened up,” says Ms. Yeatman.
Their goal was to keep the footprint of the original house despite the constraint of a 20-foot-wide lot. As in all of their residential projects, they also aimed to improve the connection to the outdoors.
The architects showed the couple a few different configurations before they finalized a plan and construction began in the summer of 2024.
Today the homeowners and visitors arrive to a porch that runs the width of the house with a simple overhang above.
Inside, the entryway is delineated by a drop ceiling wood detail which creates separation from the main living area.
“We always want to create an entry so you’re not walking straight into the house,” says Ms. Yeatman.
Nanne Springer/Supplied
A floor-to-ceiling window almost the width of the living area opens up the home to the light and views of the street.
The dining area stands at the centre, and the kitchen at the rear, where a wall of glass slides away to extend the kitchen area into the back garden.
The architects chose white oak floors and millwork for a harmonious backdrop. They also created curves and rounded edges to soften elements throughout the home.
Ms. Lau points to the rounded corners of the kitchen island, for example, which create a nearly oval shape.
“The idea was to soften the edges and encourage movement around the fairly narrow space,” she says.
Nanne Springer/Supplied
Curves reappear in the dropped ceiling detail that separates the kitchen from the dining room and smooths the edges of the living room fireplace.
The motif is carried outside to the street façade, where a radiused corner on the dormer reinterprets the dwelling’s traditional silhouette, she says.
Custom built-in cabinetry also defines various spaces and helps to reduce visual clutter. For example, the architects hid a powder room tucked into a corner on the main floor behind a panelled door integrated into the millwork.
One set of built-ins was customized for Ms. Lee, who works at home as a financial analyst.
Nanne Springer/Supplied
On the second floor, the architects brought in light from a skylight above the staircase. At the front of the house, they created an office for Mr. McAdam, who works in investment management.
Carter’s spacious bedroom at the rear has a large window with views of the treetops and a balcony overlooking the backyard.
“It’s a really, really beautiful room for him,” says Mr. McAdam.
The third floor was turned into a haven for the couple with a tranquil bedroom, large walk-in closet and a large rooftop deck. The curves continue in the private ensuite bathroom with a stand-alone tub in front of the window.
A pocket door slides across to keep the space private if the couple invites friends and family to lounge on the deck.
Nanne Springer/Supplied
Nanne Springer/Supplied
Now that the couple has lived in the house for a several months with Carter and Quinn – the family’s goldendoodle – they appreciate the warmth, texture and light.
Mr. McAdam pushed for more colour in the beginning, but the architects and Ms. Lee persuaded him that a subtle palette of off-white and beige would create a calming environment.
“Our vision was a little more modern and minimal,” says Ms. Lau.
The architects added colour to family and guest bathrooms with tiles while keeping the main spaces neutral.
Today, Mr. McAdam and Ms. Lee find the interior serene.
Mr. McAdam also understands why Ms. Lau and Ms. Yeatman strongly advised the couple to go with the layout they did.
“I did want the kitchen in the middle. I’m glad I lost that argument,” says Mr. McAdam.
Ms. Lee enjoys nuanced elements, such as the graceful birch tree they planted outside the front window so she could see the white bark on dreary days, and the living room’s sculptural fireplace.
Mr. McAdam agrees that the flame of the gas fireplace is beautiful in the early darkness of a winter evening.
“Even when we’re coming home, you can see that fireplace from the street.”