Karra Greenwood longed for a classic, turn-of-thecentury home in a quaint Ontario village. Then, she and her husband John rented a stately, red brick, three-storey Victorian manor and fell in love with Thornbury's unique charm. The Greenwoods decided to purchase and renovate the home… but they had their work cut out for them.

The dramatic, traditional dining room is ready for Christmas dinner. Designer Lee Wells added candles, beautiful fresh flowers and flair to the décor. He also selected the dramatic wall colour.

With the help of an experienced builder and a top designer, what was once a dark, oppressive historic home has now been transformed into a bright and spacious 3,700 sq. ft. winter weekend retreat for this active Toronto family.

"We basically re-did the entire house. It hadn't been touched since 1901. We restored it. We kept all of the principal rooms and a lot of the mouldings, high ceilings, pocket doors and stained glass," says Karra. "It's a new house essentially, with a very old-world feeling."

To realize their dream, the Greenwoods hired Porter Skelton, a Collingwood design-build firm with over 20 years of construction experience. Partner, Colin Grant, acted as site supervisor on the project, while Principal Partner, Chris Skelton, worked with the Greenwoods to develop an interior layout concept and design for their two-storey, 1,100 sq. ft. addition.

"This house was a perfect example of what we do in the design-build end of things on a renovation-style project," says Grant, underlining the importance of respecting existing structure, as well as the integrity of an old building. "This place was in quite good shape. Besides freshening up a lot of things, we didn't do anything too dramatic – aside from the addition… An old house has a feel that just cannot be replicated."

This sitting room is set between the dining room and kitchen.

The couple turned to interior designer Lee Wells, owner of Thornbury décor store, Drewhaven Town and Country, to recreate the magic he worked on their Rosedale home. "Lee's an old friend of mine. We have very similar tastes and interests. We wanted to recreate a Ralph Lauren-style home," says Karra, "and we had a great deal of fun doing it."

With over 25 years of design experience under his belt, Wells's style is classic. "The way I dress and the way I design is exactly the way I work," he says. "It's not trendy, and it's not going to go out of style next week." He describes the original Greenwood home as "dark and very gloomy." "The potential was there. We didn't want to ruin the structure itself – we wanted to maintain the integrity of this Victorian-style home. We did the addition with that in mind, making it blend in to look like it was always there."

And so the team set out to restore this timeworn treasure. Exterior brick was cleaned, an old screen door was replaced with a new, Victorianstyle replica (Madawaska Doors), trim and mouldings were removed, stripped and catalogued (a painstaking six-week process), front entry woodwork was painted, stairs re-built (by Jack Ploeg of Northern Custom Stairs), walls re-plastered, and the original red oak floors (stained Minwax Ebony) were preserved and repaired by Doug Cornell of Cornell Flooring.

The large island is the focus in this well-appointed kitchen. The island top and backsplash are ebony slate. The stained, white-pine cabinets are a mix of old and new.

"We saved or resurrected the original grates and used them wherever we could," says Grant. "We saved spindles and then had reproductions made (by Bill Brown Woodworking & Building Supplies Ltd.) when we were short on pieces. Again, we used all the original doors, stripped and cleaned the old hardware, glass door knobs, and re-installed it all." Original ceiling medallions in the dining room and front entry preserved the character and charm of the home.

To improve the flow, and to open and brighten the main floor, walls were knocked down and a new hallway constructed. The addition opened up the back of the home, inviting the outdoors in, and showcasing a spacious kitchen, as well as new family and breakfast rooms. A 380 sq. ft. basement media room was also constructed for the children.

The dining room is a stunning Lee Wells design touch. "I love doing drama in the dining room," says Wells. "I wanted to go with something a little shocking, so we did fuschia, and I got inspired from Oscar de la Renta's home (which I had visited). He had a fuschia dining room, and I just love that colour. You see it on people's lips, but never on a wall." The chandelier is a historic period piece from the Ogilvy family in Montreal.

The Greenwoods kept the original pine pocket doors leading from the formal dining room to the open-concept kitchen/sitting room. With three active boys, Karra felt the family needed separate adult and kid areas. The sitting room features a Bajan-inspired ceiling fan, Louis XVI French frame chairs (covered in fabric Karra sourced on a recent trip to Europe), and a reproduction coal-burning gas stove (by Valor, supplied and installed by Cook's of Owen Sound), with pine surround (designed by Chris Skelton), built by previous owner and cabinetmaker, Don Clark.

The tartan-inspired family room is warm, cosy and decked out for the holidays.

Chris Skelton re-designed the kitchen, updating the Victorian look to include pot and track lighting, and built-in speakers, creating an ideal space for entertaining. "About half the white pine cabinets were new and half were re-used," says Grant. The kitchen island top and backsplash are natural cleftfinish ebony slate (FloorcraftersMacDonald's Countrywide Furniture of Thornbury); stainless appliances were purchased at in Meaford.

The family room is Karra's favourite space. "I love the feel. It's all done in Royal Stewart tartan and it's got a Ralph Lauren, Stewart tartan carpet. It's very warm," she adds. "It's got a big red Ralph Lauren corduroy couch and a gorgeous fireplace, and I love the view of the coach house and the back gardens." The built-in cabinets and wood burning fireplace (natural beige Ebel Limestone) were designed by Chris Skelton and built by mason, Brian Potts. Wells covered the vintage wing chairs (from Drewhaven Town and Country, circa 1927) in distressed Ralph Lauren leather.

Original, stained-glass pocket French doors lead to a fabulous breakfast room with large California gold tiles (Floorcrafters) and wall-to-wall windows that offer a breathtaking view of the Greenwoods' beautifully landscaped backyard (Gordon J. Leece Landscapes and Jan Pratt, Landscape Architect), gardens (Garden Holistics), tumbled paving stone patio and stunning 3,000 sq. ft. coach house (the Greenwoods' next project).

A mural (by Thornbury artist Andrew Roberts) in this spacious upstairs bathroom was untouched when the Greenwoods bought and renovated.

A splendid reddish-brown tin roof crowns the coach house. "It's lovely," says Wells. "It's very Tuscan and looks like something you would see in the backyard of a French home." Adds Karra, "It's original and it's beautiful, and it's the nicest building in Thornbury, I think."

The main floor also features an expansive mud room and a small office, with uneven walls that were a challenge for Mike McArthur to wallpaper.

Upstairs, walls were knocked down to turn four bedrooms into six. Each room was painted (by John Ferraro) a primary colour (Benjamin Moore, from Desiron) and decorated with a different Scottish tartan (available through Drewhaven Town and Country). "Karra wanted something bright and happy," explains Wells, "so we just went with that, and I love tartan - it has a Ralph Lauren influence. It's so classic and never dies."

Kim Hall of Pinetiques finessed the custom cabinetry in the upstairs bathrooms, and added his distinctive stain to the kitchen cabinetry. Bonneville clad wood windows (Havens Hardware) and all new mechanical (Nottawasaga Mechanical) were also installed. Rigney Electric upgraded the electrical and Green's Plumbing modernized the plumbing.

Every bedroom features a different tartan to match the décor.

"I can honestly say that the whole project from start to finish was completely effortless," says Karra. "It was a very fun project." "As far as clients go, it was almost easy," states Grant.

The Greenwood family is so pleased with their newly re-vamped dream home that they plan to use it as more than just a winter weekend getaway.