A home built on trust and community
Located at the bottom of a ravine in Toronto’s Caledonia-Fairbank neighbourhood, a once-modest bungalow, now transformed into a three-storey multi-generational home, exemplifies what can happen when values, craftsmanship, trust and community align.
I wrote about this full house renovation in July 2024 when the project was in its infancy.
Terrell Wong of Stones Throw Design, the project’s architect, brought in Greening Homes as its builder. I cannot thank her enough. It’s been a dream project, guided by Greening Homes’ responsible renovation principles – but it became more than that.
The clients – a couple with two children, plus the wife’s parents – have prioritized reducing their home’s environmental impact and making it self-sufficient. The house is built to near Passive-House standards and has potable rainwater harvesting, solar power and an edible garden and forest. For them, it’s personal. The working couple are professionally engaged in supporting people at home and abroad who are at the frontlines of the climate crisis. They want their forever home to reflect their values.
It needed to reflect their budget, too.
Faced with limited funds, the homeowners considered postponing finishing the floors and walls. Together, we came up with creative solutions to fit their budget and environmental ethic to bring their renovation to the finish line.
For the floors, we used end-of-line sourced flooring from Nadura, a top eco flooring supplier. We also obtained cork flooring second-hand for a nominal price.
The clients also sourced many finishes from several vendors, including the Restore – such as 100-year-old doors that we repurposed into sliding doors. Terrell designed a stunning vaulted ceiling for the third floor. We made it pop, finishing it with reclaimed barn board and beams.
Concerned about the best eco-friendly choice for their kitchen countertops, the clients settled on steel that is 95 percent recycled.
The result: multiple flooring types and finishes and a mix of old and new throughout the home, creating a warm, striking and eclectic style.
As for the walls, well, we had fun with that. To help meet the clients’ budget and eco-ethic I suggested natural clay plaster. The clients paid for the material and the labour was free. Yes, free. I invited a who’s-who of green builders for an earthen plaster party.
And they came – more than 20 of them – in what felt like 40-degree humid heat on a Saturday. An awesome band called Escalate performed while we plastered the house’s walls and fueled ourselves with pizza and plenty of fluids. It was completely crazy and utterly wonderful. It spoke to the power of community and goodwill and the integrity of the clients to stick to their values and their trust in us to deliver. Visit the two-part video series on our Instagram account to see the party in action.
Our plaster party reminded me that green building is more than the materials. It’s the people behind them – the homeowners and the community of sustainable building professionals who stand by them, helping to transform their vision into reality.
By Christopher Phillips