Sitting area with orange leather swivel chairs and a marble-topped coffee counter beneath cluster pendants, facing a wall of windows onto the wooded ravine.

SWANSEA

Quiet Oasis

White oak servery peninsula with a coffee station and stone counter beneath a woven pendant, opening onto the kitchen run and the stone fireplace beyond.

Client Goals & Needs:The family fell for the view before anything else, a wall of forest along the back of the property. They wanted a home that turned toward it, so morning coffee could be taken with the trees in sight, and a room made for music, framed by the forest behind it.

Project Type:Interior Renovation and Addition

Square Footage:3,500 sq. ft.

Location:Swansea

Services rendered:

Architectural design
Interior design
Construction

Kitchen run beneath a white plaster hood, with a marble slab backsplash and lit stone shelf, ending at full-height glass to the wooded garden. — Kitchen

Kitchen elevation with a gas cooktop and sink set into the stone counter, beneath a lit full-length stone shelf and marble slab backsplash. — Kitchen

Down the galley kitchen, the stainless refrigerator and wall ovens facing the cooktop run, with the dining table beneath its slatted pendant beyond. — Kitchen

Tall white oak cabinetry holding the stainless refrigerator and integrated wall ovens, looking down the kitchen to the garden glass and a rust swivel chair. — Kitchen

Galley kitchen seen from the servery, oak cabinetry and stone counters running to the full-height glass and a rust swivel chair at the garden end. — Kitchen

Kitchen run seen from the sitting nook, the plaster hood and lit stone shelf over the marble backsplash, with a blush swivel chair in the foreground. — Kitchen

Floor-to-ceiling glass at the garden end of the kitchen, a rust leather swivel chair set against the view of the wooded yard. — Kitchen

Gas cooktop with cast-iron grates set flush into the stone counter, a crock of wooden spoons against the marble slab backsplash and the sink beyond. — Kitchen

Bathroom with a wide white basin and chrome faucet, a wood-grain storage tower, and a frameless glass shower with a round rainfall head. — Bathroom

Walk-in shower behind frameless glass with a round rainfall head and a penny-mosaic accent band, beside a wood-grain storage tower. — Bathroom

Powder room with a fluted white oak floating vanity, a stacked vertical-tile feature wall over stone-look wainscot, an olive wall sconce, and a wide mirror. — Powder room

Fluted white oak drawers under the integrated white basin of the powder room, a square polished faucet and a small potted plant against the stone-look tile. — Powder room

Lit olive sconce on the stacked cream tile of the powder room, above a textured glass vase of flowers on the stone ledge. — Powder room

White oak servery with its coffee station and stone counter beneath a woven pendant, opening to the kitchen run on one side and the whitewashed stone fireplace on the other. — Dining room

Dining room with an oak table and six cream upholstered chairs beneath a slatted wood pendant, backed by the glass-front servery wall. — Dining room

Dining room toward the servery, its lit glass-front uppers over white oak lower cabinets, with the slatted pendant over the table. — Dining room

Dining room servery run of lit glass-front uppers and white oak lowers with brass pulls, beside the table and a shaded picture window. — Dining room

Dining servery with lit glass-front cabinets and oak lowers, looking through to the kitchen run and its marble backsplash. — Dining room

Dining table beneath the slatted wood pendant, set against the whitewashed stone fireplace and a picture window onto the trees. — Dining room

Dining area beside the whitewashed stone fireplace, with oak display shelving, a grey glass-panelled side door, and the table set by the window. — Dining room

Dining room looking past the whitewashed stone fireplace and oak shelf niche to a sitting corner beyond, with a grey glass-panelled door at the entry. — Dining room

Living room at the two-sided whitewashed stone fireplace, a television and soundbar above the oak mantel, open to the dining room beyond. — Living room

Whitewashed stone fireplace column seen from the dining side, a knitted throw over the olive velvet armchair and the linen sofa beyond. — Living room

Sitting nook of two velvet swivel chairs and travertine side tables under a cluster of woven pendants, facing the wall of glass onto the wooded garden, with the servery counter alongside. — Sitting area

Sitting area with two velvet swivel chairs and a travertine side table on a pale rug, framed by full-height glass onto the ravine, a framed print on the end wall. — Sitting area

Rear of the house from the patio, the dark-clad glazed addition beside the original brick, with a dining table, woven lounge seating and planted borders on the pavers. — Backyard

The finished two-storey glazed addition on the rear of the same house, Quiet Oasis project.

The original brick rear of the house with a wood deck, before the addition, Quiet Oasis project.

Before

After

Design inspiration

The backyard forest set the entire design. We planned the addition and the interior around the light and the sightlines to the ravine, opening the main living spaces toward the trees so the outdoors stays part of the room.

Natural stone feature wall with floating white oak shelves styled with sculptures and greenery.

The result

The reconstruction and addition reach the home toward the forest and frame that view from the main floor. Upstairs, a dedicated music room was built around a grand piano for a world-renowned Canadian composer, placed to look out over the canopy. The finished home is calm and private, green at every window, a quiet oasis inside the city.

The finer details

Gas cooktop with cast-iron grates and stainless knobs set into the marble counter, a crock of wooden spoons by the backsplash.

Fluted white oak drawer fronts beneath the integrated white sink and polished square faucet of the powder room, against stone-look tile.

Sculptural olive wall sconce on the stacked vertical tile of the powder room, above a vase of flowers on the stone ledge.

Whitewashed stone column at the edge of the living room, a throw-draped olive velvet armchair and linen sofa beyond.