Homes and Cottages - Refining a Gem
October, 2017
"Our friends asked if we are in the witness protection program because we move so much,” homeowner Mary Lee Keefe says.
She and her husband Guy Manuel roll “with the life stages” buying and selling homes to meet their family’s needs, she says. They most recently sold their cottage because their grown up children no longer had time to spend there. So, it was important that this house had a cottage-in-the-city backyard with a pool.
The couple bought this 3,500-square-foot house in 2014, choosing a location close to their old west Toronto neighbourhood. “We didn’t want to move to the suburbs but wanted a bigger lot,” Keefe says.
They concentrated their efforts on renovating the approximately 1,600-squarefoot main floor and backyard. Rather than gut the space, which had been renovated over the years, they refined it. Glass half walls were removed to open up the space and create an easy-for-entertaining flow.
