Built on a double lot on one of the many ravines located in and around central Toronto, the house was designed for a private, communal family lifestyle, with a rear façade that opens up toward the ravine, essentially turning its brick-and-aluminum-clad back to the street. The architects, Cindy Rendely has created a stepped arrangement of volumes that open forthrightly into the landscape. Openness to the ravine and awareness of the changing seasons are reinforced by the many full-height glazed walls and doors at various vantage points, which also bring light, motion and sound into the interior.

The house built in three levels—main living spaces on the ground floor, master bedroom and kids’ rooms upstairs, and a basement level built into the sloping site on the rear. You enter the house on the center level. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls wash the main living spaces on the ground floor in sunlight and bring the outside in. To the right is the grandparents’ suite, a full apartment with kitchenette, made to feel intimate with lower ceiling heights than the rest of the home.





With three fireplaces, radiant floor heating throughout, and all that floor-to-ceiling glass, the home is comfortable year-round. According to the homeowners, the feeling of being immersed in the landscape makes everyone in the family, from teen to elder, feel like they’re experiencing the home for the first time each day, as they watch the light shift and the seasons change.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 2:41 am and is filed under House Design.Tags: Architectural House, Bathroom Design, Bedroom Design, ceiling glass walls, Cindy Rendely, Contemporary House, Contemporary House Design, floor master bedroom, Green House, House Design, Interior Design, Interior of Ravine Residence, kids rooms, kitchenette, Living Room Design, Ravine Residence
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