In her 20s Xeniya Vins, like most young adults, was eager to move away from her parents and start building her own life.
But after marriage, two children and a busy career, the award-winning, Esquimalt architect has found life is better in the same home as her parents, in a house she designed for all three generations to happily cohabitate.
“I separated for a bit in my 20s and 30s but quickly merged back. I like living with my mom and dad. We are doing it because it’s genuinely good for both our families.
“My parents like seeing their grandchildren and they really enjoy helping us out,” she says, referring to her husband Janos Farkas, a civil engineer and her partner in their architectural firm, called Xquimalt Developments. They have two children, Elizabeth, 7, and Mila, 5.
“We wouldn’t be able to devote so much time to our business without intergenerational living. I get up and sit down to work immediately and I can hear the kids doing something with their grandparents and hear intense giggling downstairs.”
The two families have lived together for five years, beginning in Calgary, before moving to a property in Esquimalt in May, 2019, where they were able to eventually build their extended family dream home.
Before their purpose-built house was constructed, Vins admits life was a bit more challenging for the extended family in the original house, built in 1906, which has a traditional layout of smaller rooms. Now that their new house is completed, they are planning to renovate the older home and rent it out.
Their three-level, modern house, adjacent to the original house on the 6,200 sq. ft. lot, has an open-concept plan with a separate living space downstairs for Vins’ parents.
“We call it the lower floor instead of the basement since it’s half-way out of the ground and doesn’t feel like a basement. I wanted the quality downstairs to be the same as upstairs so it’s not a lesser space,” she says.
When it came to designing the interior space, Vins says they share one large kitchen on the main floor since they enjoy cooking and eating meals together. But, she adds, her parents also have their own kitchenette they can use as well.
Extra sound-proofing was added so their parents wouldn’t be bothered by noise coming from the main floor, especially when the younger couple entertains.
There is also a door downstairs so Vins’ parents don’t have to come upstairs to exit the house.
“My parents have the lower floor and we meet in the middle for dinner time. They don’t have to announce their arrival. The door is always open,” she says.
When it came to decorating, her parents have added their own accents to their personal space, but the colour and some of the main design features, like flooring, tiling, lighting and bathroom fixtures, are consistent throughout all three floors.
The upstairs level has the primary bedroom, ensuite and the children’s bedroom. There’s also a small patio off the primary bedroom.
“I tend to keep a similar, muted colour scheme throughout my house. Some would say it’s boring, but I find it ties everything together and creates a less cluttered look. Even my rugs are identical for all the rooms. It makes the house feel larger,” she says.
Because they are a large family, with many possessions, there is a lot of built-in storage, which also helps to keep the house from feeling cluttered. Vins also chose an off-white paint for most of the main living space walls and light natural wood flooring with black accents around the window frames.
“It has a modern, earthy feel to it. A bit of a Scandinavia vibe,” she says.
“Less is more. Nothing is over the top so it keeps everything calm.”
Now that their own home is completed, the couple is proud of what they accomplished, especially since their lot was initially earmarked for three townhomes, under the city’s community plan, to help increase density in the neighbourhood.
The homeowners were able to get council approval for their modern house, by coming up with the idea of keeping the original house, instead of demolishing it, and adding a legal secondary suite to it. That plus the new house provides the density Esquimalt required for any new building on the site.
“It’s still three homes but density in a more gentle, appropriate way,” says Vins. “We feel this is more in tune with the community.”
The new 2,700 sq. ft. house was the first time Vins designed a single family home. The majority of her architectural practice is in multi-family homes.
“We felt this was the only way we could own a new home and we didn’t have to break the bank to do it,” she says.
Their budget for the new build was $600,000 but Vins noted they didn’t pay themselves a wage and did a lot of the labour as well.
Farkas’ father is a mason by trade who helped Farkas complete the exterior brickwork, while visiting Canada for five months from Hungary along with his wife.
Farkas also did all of the metal roofing, duct work, insulation, and flashing to name just a few of the projects he took on.
“I like everything behind the walls and making sure the house will last. She designed it, did the building permitting and interior design,” says Farkas.
When it came to designing the new house, one of the most important spaces was the communal kitchen since the family enjoys entertaining. Their dining table normally seats eight but can accommodate as many as 12 people, which is important when Farkas’ parents visit.
“While this house is on the smaller size it’s important to have one big open space so you don’t feel closed in,” she says.
Because the new house doesn’t have a garage Vins designed the kitchen to have as much storage space as possible, with the back wall featuring floor to ceiling, semi-custom oak veneer cabinets.
“It was standard cabinets but arranged in such a way to look like custom,” she says.
Vins designed the kitchen cabinetry area, with the stovetop and kitchen sink in the centre to look like it was framed in a box.
The fridge, adjacent to the sink, is hidden behind a matching cabinetry door and the kitchen is dual colour with the box-like area in grey with the main cabinets around it in a lighter oak.
“It’s almost like lining in a man’s jacket with the different colours,” says Vins.
And while the cupboards are a standard 24 inches, Vins wanted to have the back cabinet unit look seamless so had the cupboards popped out to be flush with the fridge. They also installed double ovens in the cupboard unit.
The kitchen also has a large black, quartz kitchen island, with a waterfall edge on both sides. Vins says she prefers not to have a kitchen sink in the island so it can also serve as a buffet table.
While they saved money by using standard kitchen cupboards and a mid-range priced product for their countertops, they splurged when it came to the floors, using oak flooring laid in a herringbone pattern.
They also spent money on quality construction products.
“I wanted to make sure this building would last 100 years so we went with higher-end products on the exterior and insulation,” says Farkas. “It’s a very air-tight building.”
Vins added the original house on the property doesn’t have proper heating and ventilation at the moment, so they know the value of making a home livable and up to modern standards.
The new house has a heat pump and an electric fireplace and stovetop.
The fireplace is covered with venetian stucco and they installed lighting throughout the house similar in style to give it a cohesive look.
