How a pair of builders brought a neglected Rosedale gem back to life

Within 30 minutes of first walking into this detached 1914 Rosedale house, Valery Macri and her husband, Paul Pascolo, knew they would put in a bid. The place had been sitting on the market for months, and no wonder: it was a warren of dark, wood-panelled rooms. But Valery and Paul are experts at dealing with that sort of thing: they co-own the design-build firm Lionfish. “We knew we were going to take everything back to the studs anyway, so the interior didn’t matter,” says Valery. They loved the house’s Queen Anne Revival exterior. The fact that the property is close to their daughter, Eliana’s, school was the clincher.

The third floor, originally three ­bedrooms, became a single master suite. By removing some of the rafters, they were able to carve out 10-foot ceilings. The second floor, meanwhile, is ­Eliana’s domain. She has her own study, a TV room and a laundry nook with a mini-fridge.

They gutted the main floor to create an open living space, and replaced the heavy wood staircase with glass- and steel-framed white oak stairs. Finally, they livened up their neutral colour scheme with artwork. The result is an interior that’s both refined and bold.

The master bedroom is inside the house’s turret. Valery and Paul found the Tom Dixon chandelier in New York:

They bought the Chuck Close lithograph from gallerist Nikolas Rukaj’s collection. The Side Eye console is made by Morgan Clayhall:

Gramovox makes these floating vertical turntables in Chicago:

The wallpaper in the TV room is made from coloured abacá, a type of banana fibre native to the Philippines:

Eliana is obsessed with Marilyn Monroe, so Valery and Paul got her this Hollywood-inspired vanity:

They hung “The Smile,” by Philippe Vignal, in their third-floor sitting room because it makes them smile when they come up the stairs:

They fell in love with this floral wallpaper during a trip to Barcelona:

The Falmec cooktop hood is from Italy. They chose it because it doesn’t block their view of the trees:

Paul collects vintage coffee and espresso machines: