Yannick Bisson, of Murdoch Mysteries fame, is selling his East York house

Yannick Bisson, who plays detective William Murdoch on CBC’s long-running Murdoch Mysteries, has one of the most familiar faces in Canadian television. Because of that, one might assume he’d have a home in Rosedale, Forest Hill or some other super-rich enclave, but that’s not the case.

In 2007, before the first season of Murdoch had aired, he and his wife, Shantelle, bought a bungalow in East York. They paid $440,000. Five years later, with the show a success, they considered moving elsewhere. “What we realized is a lot of homes were being built by builders, to be flipped,” says Shantelle, who is a writer. “They didn’t have the attention to detail that we knew we could have if we built our own home.” So they tore down the bungalow and hired Gordon Ridgley Architects to build them a custom modern mansion on the exact same spot. They listed the home for sale earlier this month, with an asking price of $2,987,500.

The Bissons are selling because they’re ready to move on. Their three daughters have all moved out of the family home, and Yannick and Shantelle are spending their winters in Los Angeles and their summers in a newly built cottage in the Kawarthas.

The four-bedroom home sits on a wide, 58-foot lot on a quiet cul-de-sac that abuts the Taylor Creek Ravine, a sprawling strip of forest criss-crossed with walking trails. “When Murdoch started to take off, it became the perfect hideout for us,” Shantelle says. “It allowed us to really leave that part of our lives behind and just be normal neighbours.”

The interior of the home is designed to feel open and spacious. “Yannick has always had an obsession with contemporary design, and Frank Lloyd Wright is a big inspiration for him,” Shantelle says. “All the mechanical systems are hidden within the walls, so your eye doesn’t get trapped on awkward angles. And we also really love watching the changing seasons, so it was imperative that we had floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere.” A glass and steel floating staircase connects the first and second floors, and there’s a small in-ground pool in the elaborately landscaped backyard. Here’s a look at the inside.

Here’s the entry:

The living area has a fireplace:

The staircase is made of glass, steel and ipe wood:

The kitchen and dining area are combined:

The backyard has multiple tiers of decking and a small pool:

The master suite is on the third floor. It has a private balcony:

The master ensuite has a pedestal tub with a view of the tree canopy in the backyard: