Architecture Wednesday: House Within a House

The "house within a house" in Toronto is the brainchild of architect Michael Hatch, who designed and built the home in 1982. The Cabbagetown residence offers spacious living areas, effortless indoor/outdoor flow and a restored Victorian cottage façade inside its multilevel interior.

Hatch felt a need to preserve the 1860s cottage structure by designing a new dwelling around it, and blending the two eras inside. He installed refinished hardwood floors and ran them throughout the ground level to connect the living spaces. 

Spread across three levels, the property presents a spacious layout, with the main living areas nestled on the ground floor, with dining room and sitting area located in what might have once been the front yard of the cottage, while the new kitchen and living areas were built behind the old façade. At the rear of the living room is a wall of windows which open to  a deck, a large fenced-in yard and a detached two-car garage with a TESLA charging station.

But step back into the dining room and step up the stairs in the light-filled atrium, a steel-and-glass staircase that unites the various levels and is a juxtaposition of industrial chic set against the 160-year-old cottage.

On the second floor, behind the original cottage walls is the primary suite, with an ensuite bath whose frosted windows appear on the cottage façade, as well  as the sleeping area with skylights and roof top deck. A second bedroom is also on the floor, while a third is up the staircase, under the eaves of the new home.

I love the industrial nature of the house mixed with the old cottage still façade between the dining and living areas. It’s the best of the old and the new.

As always, click to emBIGGERate ...

Dwell