By Sydnia Yu - Globe and Mail
Andrew Michalewski and Gail Gair purchased this corner unit on the second floor of the Wallace Station Lofts primarily for its authentic Douglas fir post-and-beam structure.
But Mr. Michalewski - a finish carpenter - wanted something beyond that. So he custom-crafted a series of unique features using about 15 rare and exotic hardwoods, as well as metal and other materials. Among the creations are a wooden pedestal sink, a staircase with unconventional railings and a deck with a glass-block floor.
Outside, he planted Japanese maples, weeping birch, ginkgo trees, small shrubs and topiary junipers.
Aficionados know there are no two units alike in a loft conversion project. But, with $200,000 spent on these features - excluding labour costs - and $70,000 on landscaping, this loft is truly one-of-a-kind.
“Now, when you have a loft property [development], they’re usually renovated in a pretty standard way and left up to the owner to do something special to it,” one Toronto real estate agent says. “In this case, you’re not going to find another loft in Toronto like this because of the nature of what went on there.”
The Wallace Station Lofts, which is north of Bloor Street in the Junction, comprises four coach houses and a four-storey, former glue factory built in 1929. There are only 39 units in all.
Mr. Michalewski and Ms. Gair have lived in the brick warehouse for eight years, though the condo corporation was registered only within the past year because of a change in developers and delays in building a requisite berm beside the railroad tracks.
The current developer went to great lengths to preserve the building’s original features and add more heritage components, including a grand front entrance with an arched oak door salvaged from a Rosedale mansion.
Most of the traditional traits of a true loft are present in the carpenter’s home: an open-concept layout with 14-foot ceilings, exposed ductwork and yellow brick walls, and a bank of large windows.
“There’s a lot of living space, so it’s great for entertaining,” says Mr. Michalewski, who also has done renovations in neighbouring units, as well as metalwork and woodwork in several areas of the complex.
The custom kitchen - the focal point of the home - boasts countertops with book-matched rosewood veneer (strips of veneer are alternated to create different grain patterns), a maple butcher block, and lighted display shelves and cabinetry made of curly sycamore and bubinga rosewood. In addition, high-end Heartland appliances have been installed.
Other kitchen highlights are a wooden structure Mr. Michalewski built around the Mekal stainless-steel sink, leaving it partly exposed, and a handmade ice holder, frequently used for parties. The latter consists of a glass bowl with a valve on the bottom, and it sits on a rotating arm next to the sink. You fill the bowl with ice for drinks, then once the party’s over, it can be swung over the sink and drained, Mr. Hoeher explains.
The back wall is composed of hammered copper, which makes the kitchen “highly distinctive and utterly unique,” Mr. Hoeher says.
The owner even customized the ductwork with copper and aluminum, fisheye-style air vents, inspired by cruise ships and airports. “If you ever look at the ductwork at the airport, its very high-tech looking,” Mr. Michalewski explains.
The most unique feature - and the one that took the most time to build - is a curved stairway with a long handrail and multiple L-shaped display shelves on one side, and a stepped handrail on the other made of a series of T-shaped structures.
“It took me about 200 hours to make that,” Mr. Michalewski says. “It was all dowelled and made with solid maple and rosewood, and there’s also quite a bit of stainless steel on it.”
The building itself inspired the design, he adds. “This is one of the [few] Toronto lofts where the walls are rounded, so I had a pattern that followed the shape of the unit.”
To make the most use of the space between the stairs and curved wall, he installed a bathroom with an oversized, cast-iron claw-foot bathtub that is partially enclosed by curved, etched glass. Nearby is the custom pedestal sink and an old-fashioned-style toilet with a flushing device mounted high on the wall behind.
“[The owner] had to get that thing in from France, because nobody here makes that stuff any more,” Mr. Hoeher says.
Other handcrafted elements include built-in shelves in the library, reached via a mobile ladder; barn-wood closet doors with Brazilian rosewood panels; and a saltwater fish tank on a wood stand. Santos mahogany hardwood flooring was installed throughout.
“You look at that place and you can poke around, and nothing is standard or what you’d expect it to be,” Mr. Hoeher says. “That’s even carried on to the outside, which is quite unique.”
Mr. Michalewski’s livelihood is in deck building, hence this unit’s innovative deck with a glass-block floor. About six feet below it is a small garden that includes a heated koi pond with live fish, natural stone surround and a waterfall.
A steel staircase leads to a Japanese garden with a custom-built pergola and a handcrafted bench sculpted from a large, solid piece of wood.
“That is quite a unique feature,” Mr. Hoeher says of the natural setting. “Often in a loft like this, you don’t have any outdoor space whatsoever.”
Though Mr. Michalewski put a lot of time, sweat and money into the loft, the couple is ready to renovate properties they own outside of the city.
As for their current home, Mr. Hoeher says the buyers will have to be “real lovers of this stuff. And I’m pretty sure there are people like that out there.”
The amenities
This corner loft on the second floor has an L-shaped layout with an open-concept principal room, a bedroom and a main-floor bathroom. There is a curved staircase to the mezzanine where a floating bed is attached at the rafters. The kitchen is equipped with a vintage-style Heartland fridge and six-burner gas stove, while the living area includes a Vermont Castings wrought-iron gas fireplace and a wall-mounted flat-screen television.
Double doors flanked by windows open to a 450-square-foot deck with glass flooring to view a garden and koi pond below. Adjacent to the unit’s two parking spaces is a Japanese garden that offers seating and a barbecue area.
There are ensuite laundry facilities, and a locker is located outside the unit.
The monthly fee of $293 is fairly low because the only shared facility is a party/meeting room.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
