A CELEBRATION OF STYLE ON THE HOME FRONT
Writer Grania Litwin and photographer Frances Litman are known for their sense of style and knowledge of outstanding design. They tour homes around the south Island, talking to homeowners, interior designers, architects and artists who influence the way we live.
famous architect did not build this house, and it's not a grand mansion located in a swanky part of Victoria.
"It is a great example of a humble worker's house," says owner Richard Linzey, who brims with enthusiasm as he points out its various charms. "And there are not many of these on our heritage registry."
This is why he and his wife Kim are thrilled with their modest home and have had it designated heritage.
Richard was born in Kent, England, and knows all about safeguarding the character of old buildings, having specialized in heritage conservation all his life.
As a practising architect for 14 years, he worked with English Heritage, in London, looking after 700 historic buildings and sites, designing visitor centres, undertaking stabilization projects and adding new buildings that would suit the historical settings. His career path crossed that of some illustrious names.
"I met Prince Charles many times, and other members of the Royal Family."
He is also author of the two-volume Fortress Falmouth, and The Castles of Pendennis and St. Mawes, a guide written for English Heritage about two castles built by Henry VIII in the mid 1500s, "to guard the seaward approach to Falmouth Haven on the border of Cornwall and Devon."
After moving to Victoria, the architect first worked as heritage planner for Victoria, but is now manager of heritage programs for the province.
His Victoria home is located in the Burnside-Gorge area, which is a part of the city undergoing something of a renaissance as it moves from tired to trendy, with new condos and offices springing up along the Selkirk Waterfront.
Linzey and his wife have spent the past two years intensively restoring the old house, doing everything from a major kitchen renovation to tearing off the 1980s stucco. They haven't sought heritage designation for the interior, as they want free rein inside, although their changes are in keeping with the era.
He is a fervent believer in the restoration of old homes and wants to demonstrate how a heritage house can become a "model citizen, how it can show good stewardship, and can model sustainability for all existing buildings."
A home doesn't have to be an elite house to be worthy of preservation, he argues: "The most environmentally friendly house is the one that's already built. We can avoid tearing down old buildings, because we have the tools to save them and companies like Vintage Woodwork to help us."
And while some people may think conservation fossilizes a building, he says it helps release a building's potential, and homeowners gain valuable skills when they learn how to repair their own homes.
"It is one of the most sustainable ways of living, and there is so much to learn in an old house. We think some of these details are mannerist, to do with decoration, but they all have a function - like a little apron I wondered about under the rafter tails. When you start shingling, you understand this is to cover the top row of nails."
His 3,000-square-foot house was built in 1913 for Marguerite Ozard, headmistress of Craigflower School, and Richard finds its history as fascinating as the house.
"Her family had a big fruit-growing farm in Gordon Head and she lived here with her brother. It was quite rural then." He can rattle off a succession of previous owners, including a mattress salesman and riding instructor.
When he and Kim were looking for their dream home, they first rented in the Rockland area. "We checked out all the usual suspects in Oak Bay and James Bay and then found this little oasis in the middle of Burnside-Gorge.
"When we saw the dining room, that was it."
The most "exciting" thing they've done was removing three tonnes of exterior stucco. "Only one side needed new shingles and we just finished that last week. It was very fiddly but our principal contractor, Pat Megson from Tranquility Homes, is a Buddhist - very patient, calm and unflappable. He nibbled a channel, then unpeeled the stucco one square metre at a time."
Inside they were keen to restore all the artsand-crafts elements, including a lovely fir staircase with exposed balusters, pocket doors, dining room buffet, Douglas fir floors and stained glass.
Ripping out the 1950s kitchen was a challenge, as was taking down a wall to incorporate the former butler's pantry. Richard built a coffered ceiling and tore out three layers of nasty old flooring.
Kim fell in love with the house the minute she saw sun streaming in the front hall windows, but was appalled by the kitchen. "The house had such a good feeling but I didn't want to cook in that kitchen. I hated it, and was worried about how it would look after the reno, but Richard kept reassuring me. Now I love the fusion of old and new."
They have also rebuilt front and back decks, and added a new roof, chimney and garden.
They believe the home is healthier to live in than a modern house: "I don't believe in sealing up a house, then giving it assistance to breathe through power venting," he said. "Coming from England, I've seen how buildings transpire very efficiently. It's when you seal them up you get problems - like leaky condos."
And the reno has offered some hilarity along the way, like finding a cache of 37 Playboy magazines in the attic rafters.
"I checked them out - they are worth about $25 each, and very tame by today's standard," he said with a chuckle, adding that his own current writing project is a book on the Royal Navy at Esquimalt.
The restoration was a huge undertaking - "We've put in about $40,000" - but because the house is on the city's heritage registry, one-the third of the building envelope repairs were paid for by the Victoria Heritage Foundation (about $12,000) and federal and provincial grants covered another $4,000.
"It really does make this kind of thing very affordable," said the evangelical Richard, who notes the house has stood for 100 years and will last another century now. "I've worked on buildings dating back to the 1500s and, with proper maintenance, they can last indefinitely."
He is clearly dismayed by the trend to demolish old houses.
"There is a different attitude in England. You are a custodian of a house and there is this idea that you will pass it on. Here the tradition seems to be you've won this place."
Ironically, they both were raised in modern houses but grew to treasure old ones - and the story of their meeting is equally unexpected. It was at the wedding of their elderly parents (Richard's father married Kim's mother), when Richard travelled here from England.
"We fell instantly in love," said the romantic Richard.
Kim adds: "Our meeting was a strange phenomenon. But I believe in fate and I have embraced Richard's passion.
"Oh my goodness, we did the math and not only are we so much further ahead financially than buying new, but we are sharing each other's dreams. He lives and breathes his work. He is so hands-on, so involved every step of the way, making sure things are done right. I love him so much and I love our life."
And for her sake, Richard it speeding the project along.
"I'm predisposed to getting this reno done in one go - we're both Cancerians and we like to have our shell complete."
Are they planning a holiday this year touring historic homes perhaps?
"No, no," stressed Richard. "We're heading to an up-Island spa for a rest."
