The Coach House sits on a unique L-shaped property, tucked into the backyards of an otherwise typical residential street in the Junction neighbourhood of Toronto. Only a long, narrow driveway, barely wide enough to drive up, connects the street to the site of a century old coach house. The unique site at the rear yard of a deep property, and with no other dwellings immediately adjacent to it, offered an idyllic backdrop for a young family to build a new home. Along with the unique setting came the unique challenges of obtaining municipal approvals to build on a land-locked site, as well as the design issues of maintaining privacy when the front yard faced everyone else’s rear yard.
The design of the new dwelling maintained the footprint of the original coach house as much as possible, to minimize the visual impact for the neighbours. A small exception being an addition to the side of the front wall, in order to create a “C” shaped building in plan. The rooms were organized with large windows facing the courtyard in the middle of the C, while the exterior of the building had smaller windows for privacy. The inward orientation of the layout not only provides privacy along the house’s perimeter, but also the opportunity to bring in natural light to all the rooms, and claim a small, private outdoor space where the family could not be seen.
The ground floor of the house contains a sizable entry, complete with storage space, a living room, a kitchen, dining and family room, as well as a guest bedroom with a private bath. The second floor holds the master bedroom with ensuite bath and walk-in closet, as well as a second bedroom and bath. The lower level has a large workshop space for woodworking, an infrared sauna, yoga room and a large media room.
This project was featured in Dwell.
Photography by Revelateur Studio
