Lofty ceilings, soaring skylights and an Indonesian bench 鈥� fashioned from a giant teak tree root ball 鈥� greet visitors entering Peter and Susan Stanford鈥檚 newly renovated home.
鈥淲e gave each other the bench for our wood anniversary,鈥� said Peter, referring to the traditional gift for a fifth wedding celebration. 鈥淭he Indonesians used to burn these roots on their beaches, until they realized they could make furniture out of them.鈥�
Both he and Susan appreciate history, tradition and art, so when they moved here from Ottawa a few years ago, they were drawn to the gorgeous setting and sleek lines of a mid-century home designed by John Di Castri on Ten Mile Point.
But the two also love contemporary architecture, so when it came to upgrading their house, they were faced with a tough decision: to do a massive renovation or demolish the building and start anew.
They chose to save what they could, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 very much a character home, and we want to celebrate the architecture,鈥� said Susan.
They lived in the house for three years before deciding how to proceed 鈥� and then the massive project began. One day, after almost everything in the middle of the house had been demolished, a neighbour walked by and quipped: 鈥淗urricane?鈥�
The owners can joke about it now, but Peter said it was a taxing time: 鈥淓verything started to cascade: If you do this, you have to do that. And if you do that, you鈥檝e got to do something else.
鈥淚t was a real education. We were very na茂ve at the beginning.鈥�
Much of the work was driven by the new building code and seismic demands.
鈥淎nd what annoys me,鈥� said Peter, a lawyer specializing in liability insurance, 鈥渋s the super-expensive coverage we still have to pay for earthquake protection. I thought it would come down with all these improvements. But no, the prices are the same as if we were still living in the old tumbledown home.鈥�
Susan, who is a technology strategist for the provincial government, pointed out the house has numerous sheer walls (with extra seismic reinforcing). 鈥淛ust about every primary load-bearing wall is a sheer wall now, and there is not an inch of wiring, plumbing or insulation that isn鈥檛 new.鈥�
One of the first issues the Stanfords had to grapple with was the 鈥渨himsical鈥� layout of staircases in their new home.
鈥淲hen you came in, you first climbed up half a flight of stairs, then went down a long hall, then down another full set of stairs,鈥� said Peter. 鈥淚t was an exceedingly inefficient use of space.鈥�
By realigning the staircases and eliminating wasted hallways, they not only improved the flow but gained a large media room, office and spare bedroom.
Other goals included re-orienting the house toward the ocean rather than the forest, and redesigning a central portion of the home that had been added two decades ago.
That renovation had added a new living room that cut off views from several rooms. By designing a new great room and angling it 30 degrees, the current owners regained views from the downstairs office and former upstairs master bedroom (now a guest room).
鈥淎nd the living room is now oriented to Mount Baker,鈥� said Peter.
The Stanfords also wanted more natural light. 鈥淭hat was one of our priorities, because this house was one of the darkest places we鈥檇 ever experienced,鈥� said Susan, who notes that light floods in all day now.
While the original home was 鈥渂uilt like a tank鈥� and very difficult to demolish, Peter said many of the improvements had been poorly done and he could tear down parts of the 1992 addition with his bare hands.
And while Susan did most of the painting, he did a lot of demolition, creating huge piles of drywall, shovelling mountains of garbage into bins, removing hundreds of nails and losing 10 pounds in the first month alone.
All the demolition was done by hand, 鈥渁nd we found lovely tongue and groove wood, as thick as 2.5 inches in some places,鈥� said Peter. 鈥淲e saved all the planking from the roof, and original fir beams. We tried to save the original vaulted ceiling but our foreman, Clint Smith at Falcon Heights, pointed out we would lose most of the beams when we added new insulation.
鈥淪o we tore down the roof and raised it two feet. He was so smart and saved us a lot of money and headaches.鈥�
What does Peter love most about the new house? 鈥淭he radiant in-floor heat. We were ratcheting things back because of costs, but I鈥檓 so glad we spent money on the floor.鈥�
This form of heat also meant they gained space downstairs (after removing the old furnace and ceiling ductwork) for a full-height basement with office, den and music studio where Peter composes and records music.
Susan likes the new flow best. 鈥淚t is so easy to live in this house now. We added about 600 square feet, but it seems much larger than 3,100 square feet, because of the high ceilings and volume of space.
鈥淎nd it is fundamentally one-floor living. Our friends are clamouring to dog-sit for us.鈥�
Dave MacKenzie, president of Falcon Heights Contracting, said the renovation was a challenge, but the custom builder noted any large renovation has challenges and difficulties. This one included trying to retain Di Castri鈥檚 vision while taking advantage of the million-dollar view, modernizing the home and working within a reasonable budget.
鈥淵ou always want to limit compromises and maximize views.鈥�
The home had suffered extensive water damage, some areas of the roof were rotting and there were many structural requirements to bring it up to code, to seismic standards and energy efficiency.
鈥淭hese are large factors, and are often why so many homes don鈥檛 get renovated,鈥� said MacKenzie. 鈥淵ou can often build new for the same price. Renovations are much more in-depth than people think and having a builder on board that you trust, right from the beginning, is critical.
鈥淢y foreman worked a lot of magic on this job 鈥� but this home has a fair bit of history and architectural merit.鈥�
Designer Ryan Hoyt agreed, adding it was a unique project.
One of the things that amazed him was the level of detail in the original drawings. 鈥淚t was fabulous and definitely not something we鈥檙e used to seeing these days.鈥�
But while the house was in a stunning setting, it had been designed so the majority of views were toward parkland. 鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to speculate why, as certainly the ocean view is the showpiece for us.鈥�
He solved this by angling a new addition toward the ocean.
The house had also been poorly sited regarding sunlight, 鈥渂ut new rooflines allowed us to introduce a transom window above the front door and new skylights. The space has a more open concept now, so the light washes into the whole space.鈥�
While the home had a style that represented its time well, there were a number of complications, 鈥渕ainly because we were third in [to work on it] and the earlier renovation had taken away some of the home鈥檚 charm.
鈥淲e removed most of that work and I鈥檓 pleased to say the result does not look like phase three. This renovation ties it all back together again.鈥�
The $575,000 renovation took top honours at the 2015 CARE Awards, winning gold for best renovation and silver for best master suite, in its size and cost categories.
