Play It Forward

The Hybrid Hangout

Where: Yorkville
Who: Naram Mansour, a real estate developer; Rouzhin Mansour, an anthropology grad student; and their kids, Aristo, 6, Aurelius, 4, Amadeo, 2, and Adelaide, 1

Seven years ago, newlyweds Rouzhin and Naram were renting a two-­­bedroom condo and planning their next move. They wanted a big family, and in 2018, they found a home for it—a decrepit 5,000-square-foot house in Yorkville. Over the next three years, they gutted the place, retaining only the elegant brick façade, and grew their family.

A chic hybrid hangout for all ages—think merlot meets monkey bars—was one of Rouzhin’s must-haves. “I envisioned us parents chilling together, having a cup of coffee while our kids played in a beautiful space,” she says.

Rouzhin tapped Emily Dragoman, the designer behind Movement Rooms, to add a dream playroom to the 1,500-square-foot basement, which already had a gym, a kitchen, a sauna and a bedroom with an ensuite. The kids’ zone is 500 square feet and features a playhouse with a climbing wall, a cargo net and a rope ladder. The toy kitchen takes things over the top with a pint-size Smeg fridge, a working faucet and a tiled backsplash outfitted with pink marble shelves.

The family has hosted countless birthdays, events and play dates downstairs. Rouzhin once hired a music teacher to give lessons to eight toddlers while their moms drank wine and chatted among themselves in an attempt to drown out multiple rounds of “Baby Shark.”

The ceiling-mounted projector gets fired up for family movie nights every Friday. Those with longer attention spans actually follow the film, says Rouzhin, while the rest just bounce around. “It’s very fluid.”

The Active Retreat

Where: The Beaches
Who: Paul Deuzeman, an accountant; Jenn Deuzeman, a homemaker; their children, Hunter, 5, and Logan, 2; and their goldendoodle, Tobi

When Jenn and Paul Deuzeman’s son Hunter was three, they noticed that he was favouring one side of his body and was timid when it came to climbing. So when the family did a whole-house reno in 2024, they incorporated a fitness element into their splashy new basement playroom.

The couple’s 3,000-square-foot house, which they bought in 2021, came with an 800-square-foot basement, but it was already packed with a sauna, a mini bar and a spare room. There wasn’t a lot of space to shoehorn in a play zone for Hunter and his brother, Logan, who was born in 2023. So the team at East Design House moved the sauna to the third floor in order to dedicate more of the basement to monkeying around.

The kids’ area is anchored by a corner play structure, and the room has purpose-built zones for reading, playing and exercising. There’s a rock-climbing wall, monkey bars on the ceiling and a ladder to the playhouse.

All these climbing apparatuses have coaxed Hunter out of his shell. “I think the daily exposure to play opportunities in the safety of his own home has bolstered his confidence,” says Jenn.

Every inch of the space is also non-toxic. “Yes, I’m that crazy mom who’s super concerned about air quality,” Jenn says. This preoccupation guided every choice of material, right down to the VOC-free hardwood.

A wonderful by-product of investing in their kids’ turf is that play time has replaced iPad time. And hosting is now a breeze. “We can just have someone over instead of arranging play dates at a park or paying to go somewhere.”

The Puck Stops Here

Where: Mississauga
Who: Mike MacRory, a managing director at an insurance company; Kristina MacRory, a nurse; and their kids, Liam, 8, Nathan, 6, Madelyn, 4, and Colin, 4

Last May, the MacRorys moved into their custom home, a meticulously planned new build that took two years to complete. Kristina commissioned designer Vanessa Silva of Be in Wonder Design to create a dream playroom in the 1,500-square-foot basement for their large family. “Our boys play hockey, and the main goal was to incorporate a sports area,” says Kristina. “But we wanted to make it useful for the little ones too, so that everyone could enjoy the space.”

This decked-out jock dream comes with a 10.5-by-18-foot artificial ice rink that you can actually skate on. (No Zamboni is required: the synthetic “glice” tiles are maintained with a spray that gets wiped clean.) The rink cost about $15,000 and is framed in real hockey boards to prevent pucks from flying through the drywall. When the kids take a break from slap shots, they can use the climbing wall and swinging rope. A two-storey playhouse with a wavy grey slide features an adorable kitchenette where Madelyn enjoys playing on the cash register and stashing her dolls. The basement also has a gym, a foosball table, and an arts and crafts area with a chalkboard. A handy closet stores all the hockey equipment.

“I’m Type A,” says Kristina. “If I have a tidy, calm environment, we function better as a family. In our previous, smaller home, there was baby gear everywhere.”

Since the basement’s completion, the MacRorys house has become that open-door home. “We have kids from the neighbourhood running in and out all the time,” says Kristina. “It makes me so happy to see how many kids love it.”