Across from Fan Tan Alley, behind a handsomely embellished gate, stretches a long walkway shaded by slender trees. Resembling a romantic sidewalk in Paris, it draws the eye and visitors into a century-old building that was given a complete and contemporary restoration by Stan Sepos about a decade ago.
Inside this building, called the Vogue, is a recently remodelled two-storey loft belonging to a Victoria couple. The two wish to remain anonymous, but are eager to share their delight in having recently found such a gorgeous space in a character building.
The historic structure houses Mountain Equipment Co-op at street level and has 48 residential units above, including several that are two storeys high. Among them is the couple’s newly remodelled and light-filled unit, which they use as a pied-à-terre for long-term guests and family members.
“We would never use it for Airbnb — that’s way too hard on a building,” said the wife, who originally thought the building was a kind of “hippy hostel.”
“Little did I know it was such an interesting heritage property until I started investigating. I immediately knew this had great potential when I saw inside.”
She loves its proximity to Fan Tan Alley, which is where she found many of her furnishings at Best of Both Worlds Imports & Design, a store where she also bought two jewel-coloured Buddha sculptures for her coffee table.
When she first came to town, the owner went on a guided tour of Chinatown and was fascinated by its colourful past.
She was told that in the 1870s and later, an old building just below her small terrace was once a brothel frequented by sailors who came into port.
Delighted by the history and stories, she began looking for a small unit and discovered a loft in the Vogue, a structure that dates back to the late 1800s. She and her husband, who live in James Bay, began their mostly cosmetic renovations this summer, a project that took five weeks.
“The biggest job was getting rid of all the mushroom-coloured paint,” she said. That took four coats in some areas and required three workers from Black Dog Painting to be on site for 10 days, mostly on a large scaffold.
The owner said she prefers to use white in contemporary spaces, and always sticks to one colour in a small area. The large walls proved ideal for her Richard Roblin paintings. The internationally recognized artist, whose works are in collections around the world — including the New York Museum of Modern Art — creates enormous and bold canvases.
The owner decorated the main-floor rooms specifically to complement the works of Roblin, who currently has a show in Boston. “He was my muse for decorating.
“I always enjoy planning rooms around art and this is such a nice setting with high walls and good light. I have decorated five homes with his paintings, although right now I don’t have enough wall space in our James Bay home. So I can come and enjoy them here.”
One of the first things she did in her loft was to remove a bulkhead, “a kind of low proscenium,” that defined a small seating area. By taking the overhang down and removing a barn door, she opened up the main floor, making it brighter.
She loves the unit’s small windows and says they let in plenty of light. “I don’t like windows that dominate a space, and these ones remind me of lofts in Paris.”
She didn’t redo the kitchen and had to work the black appliances into the décor — hence the black carpet under the dining table, with a bold criss-cross pattern.
The sitting area is decorated in soft yellows and blues to enhance the painting, while the same is true of the dining area, designed with red, grey and white in mind. The former dark, slate fireplace now has a fresh, white marble surround.
When it came to decorating the bedroom, she spoke to Robin Elworthy of Best of Both Worlds. “I told him I had a big, big wall and he said he had a mural of Buddhas from Nepal.”
The large photos, printed on canvas, stretch across most of the loft, adding an exotic note and inspirational theme. The Fisgard market painting upstairs is by Mitchell Villa.
“This is my Chinatown section,” she said with a smile.
The serial fixer-upper, who has renovated and designed 10 suites over the years — starting when she was living in Hong Kong — said she spent less than $60,000 on the renovation and is delighted with the results.
“It has been a good hobby, especially in Hong Kong, where values tended to double almost every five years.
“It is not as volatile here, but there is always a market for unique properties, for a person with the vision to increase the value of a space.”
This space, however, she plans to keep for visitors, and as a kind of gallery for her art collection.
“I like to collect art and if I put it in a place like this, I can still enjoy it.”
Developer saved building from demolition
When Cielo Properties developer, planner and builder Stan Sepos bought the more than 100-year-old Vogue building from a Toronto family, it had played many roles over the years. It had been a hotel as well as Mac and Mac Hardware store and had housed government offices and a liquor store.
Recurring renovations had reduced its heritage value.
“The building was abandoned for some time when the government offices moved out, and the windows were blackened out, so there was a dark facade on one side of the street and a strip club on the other,” Sepos said
“It was a sad disconnect between downtown and Chinatown. The upstairs floors were sloping and rickety and the city was willing to have it demolished.”
Sepos, however, thought the structure could be saved.
“I thought there was an opportunity to do more, because it had extensive heritage merit … and it has been a really positive thing for the downtown core.”
The entire 60,000-square-foot building was seismically upgraded. The developer cut a hole in the back basement wall, brought in specialized pile-driving equipment, sent piles down to bedrock, then added structural steel columns.
He added another floor on top, stepped it back so it’s barely visible from the street, and replaced all the unattractive aluminum windows with wooden ones.
As a finishing touch for the landmark, he bought several art pieces from the city of Victoria, salvaged terra cotta motifs from old buildings, and reused them as part of the decor.
Today, the Vogue links the downtown core with historic Chinatown, and is “a very cool heritage building that is spectacularly liveable,” said Sepos, adding the new entry walkway was created by pouring a concrete slab that is partially cantilevered across a rock ravine.
