A Natural Oasis in Midtown

The owners are empty-nesters who downsized from a six-bedroom house nearby to this eco-minded dream home

By Jean Grant | Photography courtesy of Dubbeldam Architecture and Design | February 20, 2020

When Ian Roland and Linda Rothstein, both lawyers, became empty-nesters six years ago, they decided to ditch their spacious six-bedroom Toronto home in favour of something more energy efficient. They enlisted architect Heather Dubbeldam and found a small 1920s detached ripe for a tear-down just a few blocks from their old home. They kept the construction process as green as possible by retaining the two side walls and rebuilding the home from the top down rather than the bottom up. The central staircase serves as a ventilation shaft from the basement to the third floor, with a skylight at the top that opens in the summer to vent warm air. The open stair design and transparent guards allow natural light to stream all the way to the basement: The floors are crafted from white oak: Large panes of glass are sheltered by deciduous trees, which let the sun in in the winter and block most of it in warmer months: The decks and porches are all made from a thermally treated ash, an alternative to pressure-treated lumber that uses heat to draw out moisture so the wood lasts longer: