A window seat built into an alcove has always been a place to dream, at least for heroines in classic novels.
Steve and Carole Hutchinson are relishing their own window seat perch in their 1913-vintage suite overlooking Beacon Hill Park. The stylish condo has made them enthusiastic converts to city life.
Unlike larger and denser cities, Victoria has relatively few heritage apartment buildings, making them sought after as condos.
Constructed in 1913 by architect/builder George C. Mesher for dentist Dr. Arthur Pallant, the three-storey building has an elegant bellcast roof and an exterior of pebble-dash stucco with Tudor-style timbered details.
Casement windows with the original single-pane glass topped with leaded diamond panes add to the old-world ambience of the 16-unit complex.
Pallant had wealthy tenants in mind when he planned the building he called Park Mansions (it was renamed Hampton Court, spelled out in stained glass in the transom window above the front door). The tenants were certainly pampered by today’s standards. They all had electric buzzers to summon servants from their quarters in the basement.
In the 1950s, Pallant’s family sold it to the Duke of Westminster, whose investment group has significant real estate holdings in Vancouver. Resold in 1968, the building had few owners before it was converted to strata ownership in 1984.
Not all owners were sympathetic to its heritage value. The building was almost demolished in 1976, but was saved by the tenants, who heard about the owner’s plans and alerted city hall.
Now the building has heritage designation. The Hutchinsons’ second-floor home is one of the largest units — three bedrooms and two bathrooms — since it’s the product of merging a bachelor suite and a two-bedroom apartment when the building was converted.
The result is an almost 2,000-square-foot home that has the proportions and the classic elements of a house.
Right from the entrance and the front hallway, with its oversized mirror, the home feels solid and expansive.
As they neared the empty-nest stage, the Hutchinsons were ready to make a move out of their Gordon Head family house.
Initially, Steve didn’t want to look at the Cook Street unit because it lacked a balcony.
Now, after almost three years in the condo, he appreciates downtown living.
“You had to drive everywhere [before] and we weren’t big gardeners, even though we had a third of an acre. Everything was so much work,” said Steve, who has a home office for his business. “Now I go days without using my car. We walk everywhere. It’s just great being here.”
They also discovered they didn’t need a balcony after all. “It’s pretty windy and we can just go out — to the park, to the beach,” said Carole.
The couple lived in the condo for over a year while they planned changes to update the space. As a designer with Design One Stevens Interiors, Carole had the skills to manage the renovation, which included new oak flooring, a walk-in pantry and a revamped ensuite bathroom. The kitchen was pleasant, but they wanted to change the galley layout and remove some wall space to open access to the dining room.
Carole was acutely aware of the logistics of renovating in a multi-unit space. “It’s more stressful in a condo, because you are around your neighbours, and you try to be tidy and quiet,” she said.
They stayed in the suite during the renovation, which wasn’t as nightmarish as it sounds, since the condo has two entrances, one leading to the master wing.
The new kitchen is both quietly classic and full of punch. New cabinetry by Hunter Woodworking is finished with a dark glaze. As well as the culinary output, the drama in the room comes from the sinuous white seams in the granite countertops from Matrix Marble, surrounded by a backsplash of California black and grey tile.
“I didn’t want to take attention away from the counters,” said Carole. The Blanco-brand kitchen sink is a charcoal shade, made from a composite granite called Silgranit that is non-porous.
They chose Fisher & Paykel appliances because of the slim and streamlined fridge design and the induction cooktop with a double oven. The kitchen even has its own little seating serendipity: a single-sized window seat.
It’s a great perch from which to view the coming and goings on Cook Street and to write grocery lists. Behind the seat is a brilliant wall hanging from Cowichan Bay fabric artist Pipi Tustian.
The soothing wall colours are from Benjamin Moore’s historic collection, including putnam ivory, with a lighter tint for the ceiling. This choice makes a suitable backdrop for punches of colour from the art pieces. There are gilt framed prints of small Tom Thomson scenes in the dining room, and several huge abstracts by artist friend Rita Dusanj.
Because the Hutchinsons’ condo is on a corner of the building, it captures light all day through the large windows. But when lighting is required ,there are plenty of new options, such as added LED potlights and strip lights in kitchen. Some original lights are mixed with a new hanging light fixture in the dining room (with its smaller cousin in the kitchen) from Luxe.
Not many modern apartments can fit a dining room table for 14 people, but this space accommodates it with ease. In the living area, the couple’s own chairs fit in with new shelving units and a sideboard that give the space a feeling of effortless comfort and style without clutter.
The ensuite bathroom, accessed through the generous closet, was updated by removing the clawfoot tub and adding marble-look ceramic tile — a matte version on the floor and glossy in the shower, where a wide swath of black tile with a classical pattern of acanthus leaves adds some pop.
In the master bedroom, colours are muted again except for the colourful, painterly florals on the linen duvet cover from Designer’s Guild.
Finally, another sumptuous window seat does double duty, fitted with bureau drawers for added storage.
It’s yet another vantage point from which to gaze at the bustle below and appreciate the extra maintenance-free time they have every week now that they are truly settled into the new neighbourhood.
