40 Marchmount Rd., Toronto
Asking price: $795,000
Taxes: $3,946.19 (2014)
Approximate size: 16 by 76.75 feet
Agent: Alan Dudeck, salesman, Sutton Group-Associates Realty Inc. Brokerage
Alan Dudeck has seen many homes during his real estate sales career, but there is something about 40 Marchmount Rd. that captivates him.
“It’s such a tight house, I love it,” he said during a tour of the home.
By tight, he’s referring to the fact there isn’t a single inch of wasted space in the 2,228 square-foot semi-detached house. And each feature – whether it’s a big statement structure, such as the staircase, or the simple cedar window trims – have a design purpose and functionality.
“It’s not just solid, well designed and attractive, but it’s built to last and withstand use for many years,” said Mr. Dudeck.
The back story
“Solid” is a bit of a theme in 40 Marchmount. Not only is the house built with a well-thought out, “solid” plan but it is also composed of quality, “solid” materials. Nowhere is this more evident – and more literal – than the house’s defining feature: a sculptural staircase that is suspended by sailing cables.
Before stepping onto it, you wonder: Will this sway like a suspension bridge? Will it shift as people traverse up it? Will it feel unstable at all? But after a step, you realize it’s anchored in place.
The distinctive staircase floats in the middle of the open-concept main floor, connecting to a second level that has three bedrooms and a bath. The lower level, accessed from the back of the home, could be either a sizable bachelor apartment for a tenant or a big family rec room or teenager’s lair.
Just over eight years ago, the house looked completely different. In 2006, David Rad bought the home for $350,000. He had just finished school and was starting his career as an architect. Four months after he bought it, 40 Marchmount had become his first self-directed complete home renovation. It emptied his bank account of $80,000 but it was worth it, he said.
“Now, every time I’m in the area, I drive by [40 Marchmount] and look at it,” Mr. Rad said. “It’s good to be able to drive by something and say: ‘I had a part in this. I manifested it. I can see it. It still exists and people still like it.’”
When he purchased the home, it was your typical west-end semi-detached house: small, narrow rooms, dark hallways and plaster ceilings.
The first order of business was bringing the house down to its bones. “A lot of the design happened as we were going,” he said. “So, for example, it was never intended to have the exposed ceiling.”
But once he discovered, sanded, varnished and stained the wooden beams, he decided to keep them naked. He also found a beautifully intact brick wall along the west side of the home and left that bare.
In terms of an aesthetic, Mr. Rad was striving to be simple but sophisticated. “I like everything to be minimal, I like modern spaces, I like open spaces,” he said.
But unlike a lot of modern homes, it isn’t cold.
“It’s not your sterile, minimalist home,” Mr. Dudeck said. “This has got some warmth.”
Part of the warmth comes from how Mr. Rad used wood. From the exposed ceiling to the maple hardwood floors to the cedar-trimmed windows, wood connects a lot of the rustic elements. “The idea behind of the wood was to make it seem like you’re in a chalet in downtown Toronto,” he said.
And for Mr. Dudeck, it was Mr. Rad’s ability to weave different design features together that makes this home so memorable. “The package of the openness, the architectural features and the materials works so well,” Mr. Dudeck said.
That harmony was what Mr. Rad was hoping to achieve: “Exposed brick walls, exposed ceiling joists, concrete: Those are the alphabet of architecture. [As an architect], you like to have as much of them together as long as they all complement each other.”
Favourite features
Perhaps unsurprisingly, both Mr. Rad and Mr. Dudeck say their favourite spot is in the south end of the main floor, where you’re able to take in all of Mr. Rad’s design.
“Sitting from there, you can look through the stairs and enjoy the height, the brick, the wood. It’s a great view,” said Mr. Dudeck.
Mr. Radd added: “When you’re sitting there, you can see the whole flow of the house.”
That spot also gives you the best view of the staircase, a feature that Mr. Rad is particularly proud of. “For most people, you look at stairs and you see it was as a utility element of the house. But for architects, you look at stairs as sculptures.”
For him, stairs don’t have to be an ugly element of the home. They can be a marriage of function and beauty, if done right. He added that his goal was to make the staircase a “piece of art.”
Mr. Dudeck acknowledges that style of the staircase may not be for everyone.
“But the mark of quality is when even people who may not feel this house is their style, they still admire it because it’s so well done and striking,” he said, adding that craftsmanship and design of the stairs speaks to the calibre of 40 Marchmount.
“It’s not typical of most houses. This is a special house.”
Earlier this week the sellers accepted an offer of $800,000.