Interior rennovation: Vancouver heritage house

Respect. The word keeps popping up as the homeowners, Tracy and Francis, describe their reno of a 100-year-old heritage house in Vancouvers Kerrisdale neighbourhood. Yet owning a 1913 home wasn't on the agenda when they went househunting two years ago. We always thought we were concrete, glass and steel people, says Tracy. On a whim, theyíd looked at this storybook house, complete with boxwood-lined gravel drive and classic front porchóand bought it the next day.

What captured them was the warmth of this long-lived-in home. And the view, which ran from the front door to the backyard, right through a floating-tread staircase. The open stairs also offered another visionóthrough the framework, the couple could envision a modern reinterpretation of the space.

The stairway had been the crux of a previous reno (featured in the April 1996 issue of Western Living) that dramatically opened up the main floor of the original house, but the 15-year-old post-modern take was now dated (think 90s-era glass blocks). A second reno would bring the home back to its roots.

A modern look for an old home

Enter designer Andrew Barker. A friend of the couple, he shared their modern aesthetic, and corralled their creative energy (Francis is an art director, and Tracy a graphic designer). ìWe drew inspiration from the house, says Barker. ìThe overall look and feel respects the traditional character and architectural mouldings of the house, but infuses it with a modern sensibility.î

After Barker built a personality profile of the couple, he pulled together a look-book of recommendations. The project went from ìtarting upî the kitchen to a rethink of the entire home. The kitchen was gutted and reconfigured, a pass-through to the formal dining room was closed up to create an office, and a living-room wall was removed to unite the main floor.

Certain elements were musts from the start. ìWe were quite decisive in the process, jokes Tracy. She wanted the chalkboard wall in the kitchen and the Christian Woo-designed king-size bed. He wanted the built-in espresso machine and gallery-style lighting for artwork. And, with twin toddler girls, they both wanted the space to be open and playful, with pops of colour from the yellow-and-chrome pendant over the kitchen island to pink plastic chairs in the twinsí play area in the living room.

The whimsical colour palette (against a backdrop of gallery-white walls) actually stems from stained-glass windows original to the home. The house spoke to us a lot, says Francis. We wanted it to be modern, but keep the original feel of the house, too. Case in point: the ceramic antler chandelier in the front hallway. This hybrid piece sums it up for Barkeróa ìmodern-rusticî style thatís a twist on tradition.

Mixing new with old

The play between new and old is reiterated everywhere. Kitchen shelves, custom-designed by Barker, incorporate a minimalist take on corbels. The master bath (completely redone) has contemporary large-format tiles laid in a subway pattern, and the modern walnut vanity has a quartz countertop that looks like marble. It's fun to play off the character of the old and bring something new to it, says Tracy.

Throughout, the reno reveals details from the homes past. The mirror above the fireplace mantel is mottled, its age-old patina now a showpiece. The fir floor, patched up, shines with a darker stain. Old-school crystal knob só many originalóadorn each heritage door.

All the details are there now to be seen, says Barker. We stripped away anything superfluous, even paint colours, and the house acts as a bit of a gallery for the coupleís objects, and also for their family. Itís a great canvas for them to play with.î The couple even uses the home as actual gallery space, hosting parties alongside exhibitions of artwork on their walls.

The end result is bespoke it's a century-old home tailored for a modern family. As Francis says, ìWe like the feeling of saving a piece of heritage and evolving it rather than tearing it down and building something new. wl