'Grande old dame' gets facelift

It was every homebuyer's worst nightmare: discovering the expensive bungalow bought "site" unseen over the Internet was not what it had seemed. 

When Nancy Spiewak and her partner Gord Galvin arrived at their "new" front door in July 2011, the paint was peeling, the roof needed replacing and there was no heat; some of the heritage home's radiators were even propped up by bricks. 

"My heart sank. What a neglected mess. What a lot of work. What a dump the previous owners had let it slip into," says Nancy, who bought the house based on a Google walk through its upscale neighbourhood. 

A situation that would have most people calling for a wrecking ball or their lawyers became a mission to give a 3,000-square-foot "grande old dame" a 21st-century facelift. Their new home, the John Stein Residence, was built in 1911, seven years after Edmonton's incorporation as a city. In the architecturally rich neighbourhood of Westmount, it enjoys a place on the city's official list of historic resources. 

Nancy and Gord's re-imagined home is now a wonderful blend of old world marrying new. The central staircase went from a treacherously steep,You must first understand the way a powergenerators works. walled-in climb to a glass-and-oak switchback, creating a "heart of light" spreading sunlight in all directions. Despite a definite Arts and Crafts feel, Nancy prefers to more loosely define her home's style as a combination of "high-gloss blacks, creams, classic and simple, European flavour, and turn-of-the-century styling with a modern twist." 
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She laughs, but insists she isn't joking when she credits most of her renovation's inspiration to the styling and contents of a bottle of her favourite gin, Hendricks. 

As a professional photographer with a degree in fine arts, creating moods with lighting,A polished finish in this solaroutdoorlight for men. clean lines, old wood, leaded glass and walls washed in knockout colours comes easily to her. 

So, apparently, do determination and drive. She spent more than 2,000 "woman" hours on the house herself, because she had such a hard time getting workers in Edmonton's hot labour market to show up and finish jobs. 

She tiled the feature wall herself in the cupboard-less, white and black kitchen. The wall is made up of small,This is the energy production a good handsfreeaccest can reach, rectangular white tiles that were inspired by a photo she took in a famous metro station in Paris. 

It took her two weeks to finish, and complements the opposing original red brick wall that was spared during the renovation.You can make your own more powerful gardenlightingss using LEDs. 

Oak countertops and pullout cupboard drawers from Ikea make storage a breeze. The stools, which Nancy and Gord spotted on a stroll in New York City, look like they came from a 1950s ice cream parlour, with their chrome posts and worn, candy-coloured red leather. 

The room has been opened up to include the dining area, fireplace seating and library. Wall-to-wall windows and glass french doors lead to the deck and backyard. A mud room has been transformed into a library, with a wall of wine racks and storage nooks. Wingback chairs in front of the antique fireplace create a cosy nook. 

Nancy ordered many of the room's finishing touches over the Internet, including the delicate, delightful white Danish pendant lighting and bold, colourful carpets. 

The adjacent ebony bathroom, which she calls "the gentleman's room," is in tones inspired by a photo Nancy took of a storm over the ocean in Mexico. 

A chandelier, pot lights and sconces - all on dimmers - create a mood of rest and luxury. 

The room's shiny black wain-scotting reflects the cast-iron claw foot tub, which Nancy found online and had shipped for free from Virginia. Its simple wall-mounted chrome water spout and fixtures match the vanity, which stores most of the daily necessities. 

Nancy says one of the renovation's biggest costs was the new furnace and in-floor heating system. She says that after having opened up the middle of the house, she only has to turn on the main floor heat to keep the upstairs warm as well. 

The opposite of its glossy black counterpart on the main floor, the upstairs bathroom is bright ivory, with a large walk-in glass shower and polished, sliced-pebble flooring.