14 Sulgrave Cres., Toronto
Asking price: $5,849,000
Lot size: 90 by 125 feet
Property taxes $29,243.49 (2025)
Listing agent: Andre Kutyan, broker with Harvey Kalles Real Estate Inc.
The backstory
When it was bought in 2009, the property at 14 Sulgrave Cres. in Toronto had a bungalow on it.The Print Market/Supplied
When Nora Nalbandian and Paul Gulesserian were rebuilding their Toronto home from the ground up in 2014, they had an overriding plan for the form of their new home. Within that overarching goal was a legion of smaller plans to support the way they wanted the home to function.
The big vision was to create a place their extended family would be happy to visit. And that worked out in spades.
“We have big families, we have a lot of friends we’ve entertained,” said Ms. Nalbandian. She estimates that at least once a year they host an event where the guest list tops 100 people.
“We’ve hosted many surprise birthday parties, and it’s the place where everyone is looking forward to being reinvited,” said Mr. Gulesserian. He said more than a few times they’ve had guests for brunch, which turned into dinner, which turned into nightcaps. “The big joke is, how do we get people to leave? We’ve tried everything, and the only effective one so far is to turn off all the lights.”
The owners are accustomed to hosting large parties for family and friends: “It’s the place where everyone is looking forward to being reinvited.”The Print Market/Supplied
The couple work together at Moneysworth & Best Quality Shoe Care – a Canadian company that manufactures more than 750 products found in thousands of stores across North America. She’s the president, and he’s in charge of operations, and the combination of management savvy and engineering meticulousness was a key contributor to their success at building a house together.
The couple grew up in the neighbourhood and found a bungalow on Sulgrave Crescent in 2009. Within a few years, they were making plans to redesign the home.
“My parents built their house, and my dad was encouraging me to do it, and we used his architect,” said Ms. Nalbandian, referring to architect David Wooldridge. “People told us: It’s a big project, it’s challenging, and in some cases, people get divorced afterwards. For us, it was seamless.”
In addition to their desired look – a combination of more traditional exterior and a modernist, contemporary interior – they also weighed in on how the house should work. Not only did they employ a lot of technology and automation, but they did a lot of future-proofing too.
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“We have lots of sensor lighting wherever we could put it so we don’t have to touch anything,” said Mr. Gulesserian. On the stairs, if movement is sensed, that flight will be illuminated by LED’s embedded in the stringers.
They installed an elevator that accesses all three levels for potential aging-in-place contingencies, but so far have mainly used it to move holiday decorations or luggage around the home. Another bit of future-proofing was the provisioning for laundry on all three levels: Currently the laundry is on the second floor, but there are plumbing rough-ins on the first floor and in the basement. There’s even a laundry chute hidden behind the drywall between the first and second floors, which is not currently in use but could be opened up if a new owner desired.
The house today
A pattern of straight beams beyond the staircase allows light from the living room to flood into the home.The Print Market/Supplied
There are two entrances at the front of the house: one next to the garage (which has a rear-access garage door to the backyard, more future proofing in case any machinery is needed for work in the backyard) and one into a formal foyer.
Off the foyer is an office, which right away showcases the couples unwillingness to be ordinary. The space is beach-themed with a full-length wall mural of sand and sky, as well as two surfboards custom printed by a relative.
Directly ahead is the main living space behind a structural feature Mr. Gulesserian calls “Hollywood Squares,” which allows light from a double-height wall of windows in the living room to flood into the home. The squares are a rarity because the rest of this main hall features many curves, with corners softened, arches in windows and doors, railings with smooth bends in the glass and wood. That’s all thanks to the architect, who told the couple everyone does straight lines.
The stairs curve around an open space beyond the foyer, allowing natural light to reach the basement below.The Print Market/Supplied
Many times, the word stairwell is used inaccurately: A set of stairs is not necessarily a well. At this home, there really is an open space just beyond the foyer that the stairs curve around, providing a deep well for light to penetrate to the basement landing from the skylights more than 30 feet above. Mr. Gulesserian said it reminds him of places of worship that draw the light from up high and pull it down to the humans below.
In the living room, a huge hearth-chimney climbs up the far wall, clad in custom-made charcoal concrete tiles, which required specialty overengineering so the floors could bear their weight.
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Ms. Nalbandian didn’t like coffered ceilings done with “tic-tac-toe” grid of recessed panels, so 20 feet above the living room is a ceiling that inverts that style with series of boxes and bump-outs in different sizes and depths overlapping almost organically. There are also sound-system speakers up there, the effect of which makes sound “fall like rain,” according to guests. In addition to the wow factor, there’s practical future-proofing here too: All the potlights and fixtures can be accessed from the attic above to replace bulbs or do maintenance. No need for rickety ladders in the living room.
“Most people don’t think about the maintenance. It’s like, you know, put it in and walk away,” said Mr. Gulesserian. But for him, low, or no, maintenance was vital.
For example, the backsplash behind the sink in the kitchen looks like a mirror, but it’s polished stainless steel. It’s not only not going to break but it reflects the light from the living room and offers a view of goings-on over the shoulder.
In the kitchen there is a hidden fan for the cooktop that, when needed, rises from the counter on motors.The Print Market/Supplied
On the automation side, there’s a hidden fanhood for the cooktop, which rises from the counter on motors when it’s needed.
In the primary bedroom suite, there’s more automation with big wall-length curtains that open or close on their own with a simple tug in either direction.
Top-end materials and technologies are used all over the house, with the intention being that these features enhance without being fussy or hard to manage.
Don’t call it a party room
When guests are over, the pinball machines and other games in the main basement rec room come alive.The Print Market/Supplied
The basement is where family gatherings come alive. In addition to a full bar that wouldn’t be out of place in a café or restaurant, the main space is kitted out with arcade games, pinball machines, table tennis, basketball hoops and table hockey.
“The bar we always had when I grew up at my parents’ house was a standard,” said Ms. Nalbandian. “Actually, the pool table came from my parents’ first house, too.”
The couple’s nephews and nieces would clamour for this space, of course, using stools to reach the game controls when they were little; now, some have grown and have to bend over to reach down to bumpers and handles. The tactile nature of the play here is a draw for young and old.
“I mean, we’ve had people over and literally every single piece of equipment is in play,” said Mr. Gulesserian. “The pinball machines, surprisingly enough, the littlest kids that are seven to eight years old, they go straight to that thing. The adults, it brings them back to their youth.”
Occasionally, a little friendly rivalry will break out, too.
“We had competitions with my uncles and aunts, everyone was dressed in high heels and skirts and all that. They were sitting here in their heels playing basketball, elbowing each other,” said Ms. Nalbandian.