Heaps Estrin's Blog

Cailey Heaps explains how she made her new-old Rosedale house feel just like home.

Words by Doug Wallace

"I had been speaking to a lovely family for years about the sale of their home. It was a few years from our first meeting before they decided they were ready to sell. When I went to list the house, I had this overwhelming feeling that I was meant to live there."

Heaps Estrin president and CEO Cailey Heaps had been in this classic, red-brick Rosedale home dozens of times before without experiencing such a premonition. "That that one day, I thought, 'This is where I'm meant to be.'"

"The renovation was fairly extensive - essentially a rebuild," Cailey says, "because I wanted to change the ceiling heights." Due to the house's heritage status, the front and side walls were to be kept, but the back of the house was removed and rebuilt, and the basement was underpinned.

"I believe that you have to respect the vernacular of a home," says Cailey. "You're not going to turn a heritage home into a glass box. Having said that, it's a bit of a 'mullet' house, where the front of the house is business but the back is a little bit more contemporary. So it does have a more modern aesthetic than when I purchased it. I wanted something that would have a heritage feel similar to a home in central London or New York, a home that has a bit more depth to it - but I also wanted a lot more light while maintaining walls for my art collection."

Cailey enlisted the help of Kelly Doyle and Stephanie Vermeulen from architecture firm Sixteen Degree Studio, who worked with her to design the space and collaborated on the finishes and furnishings too.

"Having worked with Cailey before, I think we were very much aligned with the direction of the project," Doyle says. "She has a very vibrant sense of design. She's drawn to all these wonderful patterns and colours. She looked to us to help her figure out where to use it all, to find the best way to incorporate all of her ideas."

Cailey had also worked with the builder Ward Bruce of Arceo Design + Build many times before. "We speak the same language, and because he knew me and my kids so well, he was able to provide wonderful insight," she says. It helped that Cailey was very clear about what she wanted and didn't want, which sped up the process considerably. And while the last two months of the renovation were impacted by COVID-19, the delays to the project were insignificant.

"But what was interesting is that I bought the house as a married woman with three children and moved in as a single mom with three children," says Cailey. "I hadn't anticipated that when buying the property, but it all worked out well. It sort of signalled this change in our lives. It's a very happy house for us."

BRINGING THE HERITAGE FEEL FULLY INTO THE PRESENT

The front of the five-bedroom house looks how you would expect a traditional historic home to look - all gabled roofs and leaded-glass windows. Sitting rooms in the front retain a traditional feel and a rich colour palette, and a dark wood staircase has a heritage feel.

"We kept a lot of the existing formal spaces at the front, but we opened the space and removed crown mouldings and doors to make it seem more contemporary," says Vermeulen. But the formality drops off, the mood lightens and the lines become cleaner as you move through to a modern dining room and a large kitchen, each filled with bright colour and bold modern artworks. "You go from this moodier, more formal zone at the front to this lighter, brighter, contemporary family space at the back."

The south-facing family room overlooks the fully landscaped garden, There's a statement masonry wood-burning fireplace that creates a glowing backdrop and helps extend the outdoor season when they're entertaining. "We introduced a variety of levels to the backyard to create these different outdoor entertaining areas," says Doyle. "You meander through, stepping lower and lower before reaching the pool. It's tucked behind the detached garage, so it's not the first thing you see - and that was very intentional, making it seem like more of a destination and also creating a sense of privacy."

New homes are invariably sustainability focused, of course. "Where possible, we integrated initiatives that would help with the rating of the home," says Cailey. "But I think the biggest investment in 'greening' the house is the green roofs over the rear addition, garage and cabanas. They're full of bees and birds. It's just amazing."

In the end, each element - whether dictated by the architectural style of the original house or a product of the new design - fits together in a single tidy package, one that spans just over 5,000 square feet.

Cailey says that she doesn't have a specific favourite feature of the house, although she is quite fond of the garden and front porch. But overall, she appreciates the home's flow and division of space, with its integrated bend of private and public sections.

"I'll find my son sitting in the bay window in the front reach a book, and my laughed will be on the couch in the family room," says Cailey. "And my other daughter will be in the basement with her friends. The doors are always open, and there are people coming and going all the time. I think it's my most favourite house I've ever lived in."