Renovation

Bonaire AgainAn historic mansion gets a breath of fresh airBY Connie Adair. PHOTOS BY Andre Francois Mckenzie / SilverHouse

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Some century homes are spectacular, but they don’t stay that way without love, attention, effort and money.

It also takes a healthy dose of knowledge to restore historic homes to their original beauty. It’s not a challenge for the faint of heart.

Luckily for this grand home, restoring old buildings was nothing new for the couple who bought it 33 years ago.

“We felt that due to our personal, very large previous award-winning restorations, that over time, we could bring the 100-year-old house, gardens, pool, theatre and views to their maximum potential both aesthetically and authentically,” Sylvia says.

She and her husband, Richard, (they asked that their real names not be used) are well known in Toronto for their valiant historic restorations of some of the city’s most important buildings.

The couple was drawn to this three-quarter acre estate because “it is amazing,” she says. “It’s on the escarpment and has day and night city views, and views across Lake Ontario.”

It’s in a private neighbourhood surrounded by mature trees and accessible via a narrow road that winds its way through the community. It’s a country setting despite its mid-Toronto location.

Their residence was built by Sir William Gage, who originally planned to build a tuberculosis sanatorium on the site.

TOP LEFTThe round foyer has a marble floor and four hidden nooks that include a powder room and a wet bar. Children love the house because it has so many places to hide.

TOP RIGHTThe house features beautifully carved Italian woodwork.

BELOW LEFTThe spacious master suite's large windows and high ceilings are a backdrop to period furnishings including a four-poster bed.

BELOW RIGHTThe solarium features an 1850s stained glass skylight from a house that was expropriated for the Pickering Airport.

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Gage, a Toronto publisher and philanthropist, has been called a global leader in the treatment and prevention of TB. A sign that remains on the property reads: Bonaire Villa. “Bonaire means good air, which was important for the treatment of tuberculosis patients,” she says.

Gage built the sanatorium elsewhere and used this pretty property for his house instead. He hired American architect Charles Cobb to design a White House-inspired cut limestone home.

The classic residence has 8,300 square feet of living space plus an additional 4,125 square feet on the lower level. Entrance to the eight-bedroom, nine-bathroom house is through a

porte-cochere and a glass and wrought iron front door that opens on to a round foyer with a marble floor. The foyer has four hidden nooks, including a powder room and a wet bar. “Children love the house because it has so many places to hide,” Richard says.

It’s hard to believe the library, with its intricate and abundant woodwork had been painted completely white. It was stripped to reveal beautiful Italian walnut. A cartouche above the fireplace bears the first letter of the couple’s last name. They saw it as a sign that they were meant to own the house.

The adjoining great room wood was also stripped to reveal more Italian walnut. The great room has south-facing windows and an

original fireplace, one of five in the home and the most used.

An amazing place to mingle with guests back in the day, and now, it is the soaring oval panelled atrium. It has sleek white columns, refinished quarter-cut oak herringbone floors with a hand-carved cherub support and hand-turned balusters.

The 40X26-foot dining room has a fireplace and a table that easily seats 14. One wall mural, inspired by an Arthur Cox painting, was created by set painter George Schlogel. He also created the faux stained glass ceiling in the library.

The couple added an 1850s stained glass skylight to the solarium, a sunny room reminiscent of the greenhouse room at Toronto’s Casa Loma. The skylight came from a house that was expropriated for the Pickering Airport, Sylvia says.

Double doors open on to a terrace,

FAR LEFTThe owners modified two kitchen cabinet doors to create an arch so they could display a carved wood panel.

ABOVEOne dining room mural was inspired by an Arthur Cox painting and was created by set painter George Schlogel.

Home TheatreThe movie theatre

has a stage with

backstage wings

where actors can

await their cues and

footlights. The original

stage curtains were

replaced but the

original silk ceiling

covers remain. The

theatre has more than

20 original seats, in

addition to 'VIP seats'

that were added for

comfort.

Children love the house because it has so many places to hide

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where Gage used to watch horses racing on the street below, she adds.

Restorations to the portico and a carved fish limestone fountain were done at the same time major work was being done at Casa Loma by some of the same craftsmen, she says.

An intimate breakfast area overlooks the solarium. The view can also be enjoyed from the kitchen, where the owners modified a few cabinets to create an arched opening backed by a carved wood panel.

The second floor has a master suite with an en suite bathroom and a sitting room that was once used by one of the home’s occupants as a sewing room. Floor-to-ceiling cabinets, designed to look original to the house, were added to the sitting room.

They transformed the property, refurbishing wrought iron gates and planting

everything from forsythia to magnolias to flowering crabs to create a lush setting for their grand home.

When they bought the property, the backyard fences and pool house had been painted a popular-in-the-1950s shade of turquoise. They were repainted in a neutral shade. Balusters to match those on the house were added to the garden fence on the south.

Beside the award-winning, four-season, energy-efficient pool, they built a whirlpool tub sheltered by a columned gazebo.

The most recent project was the addition of a folly on the east side of the house. It was built with reclaimed period cut limestone, columns and window surrounds from a demolished mansion of approximately the same period, Sylvia says.

The folly was designed to integrate

seamlessly with the existing house, with matching stone cornices linking the two structures. A stained glass panel on the folly ceiling is rumoured to have come from a brothel, she says.

The owners oversaw the work themselves. They visited the mansions of Newport and used photos from a 1915 magazine article about Gage’s original house for ideas and tips about what to retain.

“After 33 years of planned, incremental restoration, the house has everything of the potential we envisioned on purchase,” Sylvia says. “I love the house. It’s loads of fun.”

“We put in what we liked,” Richard says. “It’s hard when restoring an existing building because you don’t know what to expect. There are lots of unexpected things, but we were lucky and it went well. It’s perfect now.”

FAR LEFTA serene pool provides tranquility to the backyard.

ABOVEStaircases on either side of the terrace gives symmetry to the look and contributes to good traffic flow when entertaining.

BELOWThe herringbone pattern of the brick patio makes the space appear wider.

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