Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
Two decades ago, Ian MacDonald and Diane MacDiarmid fell in love with a sloping lot in Wychwood Park. They figured it would be easy enough to expand the 1950s bungalow perched on it—MacDonald is an architect, after all. That was before they encountered the Wychwood Park Heritage Advisory Committee. The couple’s new neighbours were convinced the structure would block views, cause stress to the trees and clash with the Arts and Crafts–dominated enclave. After months of tension, MacDonald came up with an unorthodox solution: dig into the hill so that the main floor of the old bungalow would become the top floor of the new house. Although the new living space sits eight feet below grade, the lot’s slope allowed for floor-to-ceiling windows, which make the house feel bigger than its 2,600 square feet and not at all like a basement. The windows also frame exterior views: a 450-year-old oak tree outside the dining room and the pond where their two boys, both studying engineering at Dalhousie, still play shinny in the winter. It took the neighbours a while to warm to MacDonald and his modernist aesthetic, but they eventually came around on both fronts—he’s been elected chair of the Heritage Advisory Committee for the last 12 years straight.
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- (Image: Tom Arban)
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
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- <strong>Diane MacDiarmid,</strong> a business consultant, has a home office on the top level. When the couple have visitors, they slide the pane closed, creating a de facto guest bedroom
- (Image: Tom Arban)
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
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- MacDiarmid’s desk juts out over the den in order to preserve the flow of traffic on the upper level
- (Image: Tom Arban)
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
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- <strong>Ian MacDonald</strong> has a woodworking studio in the basement. He made the coffee table out of wood from an oak that had fallen in Wychwood Park
- (Image: Tom Arban)
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/great-spaces-wychwood-park-04-96x96.jpg
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- The windows opposite the kitchen are two storeys tall, with frosted tops that allow light in while denying the neighbours up the hill a view inside
- (Image: Michael Awad)
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/great-spaces-wychwood-park-05-96x96.jpg
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- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
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- The Toronto photographer <strong>Geoffrey James</strong> shot the two panoramas of the Canadian wilderness with a shoebox camera
- (Image: Zach Hertzman)
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
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- Floor-to-ceiling windows emphasize the view and make the low-ceilinged living room feel larger than it really is
- (Image: Michael Awad)
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/great-spaces-wychwood-park-08-e1403032946224-96x96.jpg
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- The photograph is part of <strong>Edward Burtynsky’</strong>s Shipbreaking series. The artist and MacDonald know each other: they had studios in the same downtown building for 15 years
- (Image: Tom Arban)
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/great-spaces-wychwood-park-09-96x96.jpg
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- The custom dining table is slightly lower than normal, another trick to make the room around it feel bigger. It can be pulled a full 16 feet into the living room for large gatherings or rolled partway under the adjacent kitchen counter for everyday use
- (Image: Tom Arban)
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- Great Spaces: a subterranean house in Wychwood Park that got the whole neighbourhood talking
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/great-spaces-wychwood-park-10-96x96.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/great-spaces-wychwood-park-10.jpg
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Two decades ago, Ian MacDonald and Diane MacDiarmid fell in love with a sloping lot in Wychwood Park. They figured it would be easy enough to expand the 1950s bungalow perched on it—MacDonald is an architect, after all. That was before they encountered the Wychwood Park Heritage Advisory Committee. The couple’s new neighbours were convinced the structure would block views, cause stress to the trees and clash with the Arts and Crafts–dominated enclave. After months of tension, MacDonald came up with an unorthodox solution: dig into the hill so that the main floor of the old bungalow would become the top floor of the new house. Although the new living space sits eight feet below grade, the lot’s slope allowed for floor-to-ceiling windows, which make the house feel bigger than its 2,600 square feet and not at all like a basement. The windows also frame exterior views: a 450-year-old oak tree outside the dining room and the pond where their two boys, both studying engineering at Dalhousie, still play shinny in the winter. It took the neighbours a while to warm to MacDonald and his modernist aesthetic, but they eventually came around on both fronts—he’s been elected chair of the Heritage Advisory Committee for the last 12 years straight.
[gallery columns="6" ids="278963,278964,278965,278966,278967,278968,278969,278970,278971,278973"]){kind=link}
The interior shots are nice, but since this post is mostly about how the expansion blends into the hill — as well as the rest of the neighbourhood, photos of the exterior would have been great :)
Agree with Ms. Without the exterior photos the article is useless.