Great Spaces: Inside a North Toronto fixer-upper that’s been custom-outfitted for fun

By Simone Olivero | Photographs by Derek Shapton

Alister Campbell and Colleen Mahoney like to host dinner parties. Lots of them. It’s not unheard-of for them to have friends or extended family over one night, colleagues the next. Campbell, who runs a private insurance firm, and Mahoney, who sits on the board of the non-profit Action Against Hunger ­Canada, also have two teenage boys, Dugald and Declan, and two boisterous labradoodles, Poppy and Prudence. In short, it’s a madhouse—but a happy madhouse custom-designed to suit their needs. When they bought the rundown ­Tudor-style place in North Toronto two years ago, they hired the design firm Nivek Remas to bring in an elegant, modern aesthetic that would accommodate their special brand of contained chaos. The end result includes a living room that’s formal enough for cocktails with colleagues but that also has cushy couches for watching CFL games. The Hans ­Wegner table in the dining room expands to seat 18—perfect for when family members from Ottawa or ­Saskatchewan are in town. And when Mahoney wants to get away from the hubbub, she retreats with her laptop to the airy new master ensuite, which has an extra-long vanity overlooking the trees in the backyard.