Royal York Road House | LGA Architectural Partners

When this split-level bungalow, designed in 1955 by British-born architect Basil Capes went on the market in 2007, the homeowners – architecture buffs who lived nearby – just had to take a look. Its exceptional, private ravine site was a draw, and while others might have torn it down to build a more luxurious home, the couple loved everything about it: its zig-zag roof; glam carport, cedar-paneled ceiling, exposed steel roof beams and soaring windows.

Modernism is a passion and part of the couple’s roots. The wife is a painter whose father was a furniture designer from Eastern Europe who worked in the modernist tradition, and the husband is a creative director in an advertising agency. The couple have an extensive collection of his furnishings as well as other mid-century modern furniture, art and design. So, they took the leap – fueled by equal parts altruism and adventure – and then stalled: “We got the place and we didn’t really know what to do with it,” he remembers. “We liked the bones of it, but it obviously was a very, very cramped space.” After living in the house for about a year, they hired LGA Architectural Partners to reinterpret the living spaces and refresh the interior with a contemporary sensibility.

The surprisingly simple renovation does not increase the footprint of the house or clash with the modernist feeling of the home. The architects’ idea was to protect the charm of the house while subtly giving increased flow to the house and increasing the amount of natural daylight. They introduced skylights in key spaces to bring in more light while maintaining the protection of the house’s original walls. They moved the main entrance from the front of the house to the rear of the carport, and gutted the main floor. By removing a wall that separated two rear bedrooms from the main living space, they were able to open the rear of the house to light, and make way for an open concept kitchen that is partially shielded from the living room by the stone fi replace. What was originally a cramped kitchen, to one side of the living room, is now a sky-lit reading nook packed with paintings, photos and books. A clumsy garage that was added to the rear of the house in the 1970s is now a private master bedroom/bathroom suite that opens to a rear patio. Once the architects removed the deck off the living room, the formerly dark recreation room at the lower level became a bright and airy place with a leafy ravine view. Finally, the architects updated a downstairs bedroom with an en-suite bathroom for the couple’s son, and turned a storage room into a small painting studio. New energy-efficient windows and radiant floors keep the house warm and cozy.

The tightly planned home feels much larger than its 2,600 square feet. “It’s actually kind of amazing that we have this rambling space that’s actually not that big,” remarked the homeowners on their renovated space. “It feels expansive, it feels correct, without really being all that different than what it was in the first place.”