Shaughnessy home restored


Sunday, February 26th, 2006

RENO: This rickety rooming house is fabulous again

Jeani Read
Province

Curved window in the living room is the ideal spot for a mini music area. Photograph by : Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province

Fireplace after the reno above and before below. Photograph by : Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province

Fireplace after the reno above and before below. Photograph by : Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province

The dining room (below) was far from the red-and-gold inviting space it is now (right). Photograph by : Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province

The dining room (below) was far from the red-and-gold inviting space it is now (right). Photograph by : Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province

Below right newly created built-in shelving is identical to the original. Photograph by : Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province

Buying an older home and renovating is one option people take to attempt to avoid the skyrocketing costs of new housing.

Of course, not everyone can buy a Shaughnessy mansion, but this great reno couldn’t help but catch our eye.

The beautiful home, which turns 90 this year, was more of a wreck than the owners imagined when they called Ralph Belisle of TQ Construction to do the work. “I sometimes wondered why (it) was still standing,” he says.

Constant renos over the years had compromised structure and finishings. By the 1990s it was a rickety rooming house. The original huge structural beams in the roof had rotted, been replaced inadequately and rotted once more; the bedroom level was full of unnecessary rooming-house bathrooms; and the main floor was not even a shadow of its former grandeur. Within 18 months, however, it was a beautifully restored gem.

“The owners were very careful and conscientious,” says Belisle. “Their first priority was to the structure, which may not sound very glamorous. But if your work is dictated by the structure, the decor will follow. If you just go for a ‘beautiful’ home without adherence to the basics, it doesn’t always work out the way you hoped.”

Some of the work Belisle and architect Jonathan Ehling did is shown here.

LIVING ROOM

– The living room had been broken up into two smaller rooms. When a two-piece powder room was added near the entrance in the 1980s, it interrupted the crown and baseboard moulding, plumbing, electrical and duct work. Belisle’s crew moved the powder room to a more central location, and re-located fancy double-pocket doors for a grand entry. They removed walls to restore the living room to its original size, and re-created the crown and base moulding.

– The flooring was all different, at different levels. The hardwood now is oak with a honey finish; the entry marble.

– Gas fireplaces that had been installed were removed and original wood-burning fireplaces replaced with gas. The original mantle design was re-created in natural wood with contemporary lighter stain and slate treatment.

DINING ROOM

– Badly maintained wood floor was repaired and refinished.

Mouldings were re-built. Newly created built-in shelving is identical to the original.

– Some windows throughout the house had been replaced. They were in bad shape but the originals were in good condition. The replacement windows were replaced and the originals kept.

© The Vancouver Province 2006

 



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