Tall Order: a 2,000-square-foot tower in Corktown with almost no interior walls
Tall Order: a 2,000-square-foot tower in Corktown with almost no interior walls
By Lucy Dusko and Peter Saltsman | November 4, 2014
By Lucy Dusko and Peter Saltsman | 11/04/2014
By Lucy Dusko and Peter Saltsman | Photographs by Derek Shapton
The People: Julie Dyck, a 43-year-old jeweller, and Michael Humphries, a 44-year-old mobile app designer.
The Place: A 2,000-square-foot tower with two home offices in Corktown.
Dyck and Humphries were living in a converted storefront near Queen and Parliament when they noticed a For Sale sign on a 25-by-25-foot lot next door. This was a decade ago, and they weren’t quite sure what could be built in such a tiny space, but Dyck has a DIY bent and was determined to figure it out. She enlisted the architect Drew Hauser, a childhood friend, and together they designed a five-storey glass, brick and steel structure. The house has almost no interior walls—aside from those that surround the two bathrooms—which makes it feel surprisingly large.
296982 (Image: Derek Shapton) Tall Order: a 2,000-square-foot tower with two home offices in Corktown https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-01-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-01.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-01.jpg 1000 664 {"copyright":"\u00a9 Derek Shapton"} https://torontolife.com/style/great-spaces-tall-order-corktown-tower/slide/great-spaces-tall-order-01/ great-spaces-tall-order-01 0 0
(Image: Derek Shapton)
296983 The stairs <br />
were made from <br />
old-growth logs reclaimed from <br />
the bottom of Georgian Bay. https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-02-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-02.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-02.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/style/great-spaces-tall-order-corktown-tower/slide/great-spaces-tall-order-02/ great-spaces-tall-order-02 0 0
296984 The wooden divider doubles as a table extension, which allows for big dinner parties—or, more frequently, games of Ping-<br />
Pong (it’s close <br />
to regulation size).<br />
<p><br />
The floor lamp, from Thailand, is made from moth cocoons.</p> https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-03-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-03.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-03.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/style/great-spaces-tall-order-corktown-tower/slide/great-spaces-tall-order-03/ great-spaces-tall-order-03 0 0
296985 The gas fireplace was fashioned from bricks left over from the exterior. https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-04-e1414603311318-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-04.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-04.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/style/great-spaces-tall-order-corktown-tower/slide/great-spaces-tall-order-04/ great-spaces-tall-order-04 0 0
296986 The couple spend most of their time in the summer in the rooftop garden, where they have an incredible view over St. Paul’s Basilica Parish and their Queen East neighbourhood. https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-05-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-05.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-05.jpg 1000 1000 [] https://torontolife.com/style/great-spaces-tall-order-corktown-tower/slide/great-spaces-tall-order-05/ great-spaces-tall-order-05 0 0
296987 The kitchen island, countertops and backsplash were all crafted from marble salvaged from First Canadian Place. https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-06-e1414603244571-200x200.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-06.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/great-spaces-tall-order-06.jpg 633 1000 {"copyright":"\u00a9 Derek Shapton"} https://torontolife.com/style/great-spaces-tall-order-corktown-tower/slide/great-spaces-tall-order-06/ great-spaces-tall-order-06 0 0