THE PLACE: Designed by Toronto-based sustainable design firm Urbaneco, this open-concept home is the ultimate in eco-friendly modernism. Twelve-foot glass walls in the kitchen and living rooms retract to seamlessly integrate the interior living space with the professionally landscaped backyard, while the master bathroom overlooks the Don River ravine, creating the feeling of a pastoral oasis within the busy urban environment.
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Everything about this house is environmentally efficient. A grey-water system reuses shower water for toilet flushing (which can account for a whopping 27 per cent of a household’s water usage), and the steel-shingled roof is made of 56 per cent recycled materials. Heck, even the Bosch dishwasher is certified green friendly.
BIG SELLING POINT: The reclaimed staircase is made from a variety of different trees (pine, maple and walnut, to name a few), all felled by natural causes and repurposed by perennially cool furniture designers Urban Tree Salvage.
POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER: If your friends are of the Hummer-driving variety (or, really, if they drive anything other than a bicycle or a Prius), they might be slightly intimidated by your tiny carbon footprint. Save them the embarrassment and invite some locavore vegans over instead.
BY THE NUMBERS:
• $1,749,000
• 12-foot by 24-foot glass walls
• 1 master bathroom overlooking a ravine
• 1 grey-water recycling system
• 1 EcoSmart ethanol-burning fireplace
• 1 steel roof with a 50-year warranty
• 1 custom kitchen with radiant heated floors
• 1 amazing staircase
Gorgeous. I want to see more, especially the staircase that was mentioned as a selling point. It should have been included in the photos.
Great Ecosmart Fireplace..
FINALLY! A house that shows well, isn’t severely outdated and is by far worth every penny of the asking price! Congrats Toronto Life! After last week’s condo debacle, I was starting to wonder about this feature.
Steph – agreed, there definitely should have been more pictures of this very worthy house. Not to mention the staircase.
Furiously trying to figure out how I can get my hands on $1.7 million! It would be totally worth it just for the 50 year warranty on the roof!
Love it!
Very $$$ for a one-bedroom.
Not a word on the energy efficiency of this house. How air-tight is it? What’s its EnerGuide rating? 80? 83?
Beautiful home; pity about the location, but I’m sure there will be more of these in the next few years. I’d love to see a few of these scattered around Rosedale, instead of the usual tasteless infill we’ve all become used to.
I have to say this was one of my favourite houses to Stage! I cant wait to do the next one you build!
http://lastdetail.ca/
Hey TL, can you stop Ella from spamming every column with her advertising? What’s next, the lawyer who helped close the transaction say he can’t wait to do the title search on the next place you review?
First of it is not a one bedroom. Instead it is a 4+1 bedroom house. 3700 square feet of living space. Beautiful spacious rooms. Exterior is Natural stone and Cedar wood. Double car garage.
Insulation of the house isin the range of R40-R50. According to consultant who designed the HVAC the annual cost of heating and cooling of the house should not be more than 1200 dollars a year.
Hello Raza,
Beautiful house, I read the article in the Globe and Mail and it mentions that you spend $900K in renovations – is building a sustainable house that much more expensive? I am quite shocked by that number – look forward to your insights and thoughts on whether or not it is worth to build green again?
eyter