Their third collaboration was a gracious charmer for Toronto designer Maia Roffey and her clients. Together, they created a dream home from a century-old brick mansion that needed some love.
She had designed their first condo and next a starter home, then Maia Roffey, founder and principal of Black Sheep Interior Design, was tapped by the clients to take on their forever home—a stately brick residence that was ripe for renovation. “Although this century-old house was livable, it didn’t meet their functional needs or aesthetic,” she states. “Collaborating with Alair Homes Forest Hill for construction and Clarisa Llaneza Studio for interior furnishings and decor, we undertook a gut renovation, encompassing everything from basement excavation, new layouts, total custom cabinetry, as well as an exterior refresh. Throughout every level of the house, our vision was to harmoniously blend contemporary elements with the home’s traditional style; bringing it into this century without losing its essence.”
The historic red-brick home is in Rosedale, one of Toronto’s oldest and most coveted neighborhoods. “Many Rosedale mansions were built from the mid-1800s to the 1910s in a mix of Georgian, Victorian, Tudor, and Edwardian styles,” Maia shares. “In our commitment to highlight this home’s heritage, we designed the residence with a few historical details, incorporating elements like ornate plaster moldings and reproduction mantels.” One construction win was the ability to restore the original radiators— which look like antique showpieces. “They have the most incredible pressed details and we only lost a few to corrosion,” she recalls.
As with many old homes, there were certainly a few speedbumps during the two-year renovation. “To start, every floor was unlevel due to over a century of shifting and settling…along with some dubious ‘upgrades,’” Maia recalls. “Each story had to be jacked up to level, reinforced, and then the same would be done the next floor up.” But step by step, the home was restored to its original glory and then some—not to mention, a home the family will be proud of for generations to come. “All of our projects are unique because they are so client driven. I love the process of learning about a client—their needs, their lifestyle, their tastes—and then putting that all together into a custom design just for them.”
