Homes

Inside a Heritage Home Decked Out for the Holidays

A heritage home celebrates the past and the holidays in a modern way.

By Barb Sligl /

A heritage home celebrates the past and the holidays in a modern way.

Amid these curls and bows, Hungerford infused mood and sparkle with small, subtle strings of cordless lights. The white-flocked tree in the living room needed little embellishment besides the ribbon and some burlap, flowers and vintage-looking ornaments. As the area rug in the living room is red, Hungerford didn’t want to overdo it by adding Christmas red (or green). Upstairs, a second, more traditional tree was done up for the kids, along with a spindly cupcake tree and inexpensive multi-hued balls heaped in bowls and birdcages for a Wonderland feel.

You might think Vancouver’s Shaughnessy, the tony neighbourhood known for its heritage mansions on the city’s west side, was the inspiration for the renovation of interior designer Janie Hungerford’s own home. Unfortunately, says Hungerford, it wasn’t, at least not exactly. That’s because too many of the historic houses that would have surrounded this home—some built before World War II—have been demolished or leached of any original character.

Not Hungerford’s. She and her husband bought the 1920s house six years ago and spent a year and a half renovating it. “It had not had a lot of love in a long time,” says Hungerford, but it was worth saving. “It had great bones and was a pretty-looking house from the outside.” Plus, the lot size (big), price (good) and location (four blocks from her parents’ house) all fit her young family of five.

So Hungerford set forth on bringing the 4,700-square-foot house back to glory. The Parsons School of Design alumna had already done a lot of work with heritage houses. “I love the personality that something older brings,” she says, “even when you make it something new. It’s just more interesting.”

In the kitchen, stacks of plates from potter Janaki Larsen are too pretty to hide away.

The tunnel-like upstairs was also opened up as part of the seamless extension to include a master suite with a vaulted and exposed-beam ceiling.

Lush fabrics make this bedroom the perfect place to cozy.

Custom millwork throughout looks as if it’s always been there, as well as wide-plank, dark-stained oak floors (which replaced ugly terracotta tiles from a past reno) and a coffered ceiling in the dining room.

There’s a luxe factor to everything, echoing the richness of the home’s past. And yet Hungerford was budget conscious, employing cost-saving tricks like creative tilework from end cuts in the master’s marble ensuite. She was also playful, backlighting an onyx slab in the dining room’s built-in while using a wax finish on the walls for extra sheen. €œIt was a fun experiment, doing things I don€™t necessarily get to do with clients,€ she says.

Then there are the antiques scattered throughout, like the ornate Chinese nesting tables and desk her grandfather brought home from overseas, or the shapely sofa she found in Ontario. €œThose are what give a house personality,€ she says€”as long as they€™re balanced, she adds, with notes like contemporary art or the minimalist orb of a Moooi pendant light such as the one in her living room.

She describes this aesthetic as transitional, juxtaposing elements like a modern dropped ceiling in the kitchen with crown moulding or a high-gloss finish with dark wood.

And Hungerford’s holiday styling follows suit. For last year’s Homes for the Holidays tour (an annual charity drive that lets the public peek inside private Vancouver houses), she styled the space with a bold blue (what she calls a €œrich, fun, happier blue€), alongside silver and gold.

Blue, Summers’s favourite colour, carries throughout the home, while the wood flooring and concrete elements nod to nature€”a classic component of West Coast modernist design.

Amid these curls and bows, Hungerford infused mood and sparkle with small, subtle strings of cordless lights. The white-flocked tree in the living room needed little embellishment besides the ribbon and some burlap, flowers and vintage-looking ornaments. As the area rug in the living room is red, Hungerford didn€™t want to overdo it by adding Christmas red (or green). Upstairs, a second, more traditional tree was done up for the kids, along with a spindly cupcake tree and inexpensive multi-hued balls heaped in bowls and birdcages for a Wonderland feel.

Hungerford describes the holiday vibe as €œtiny little details that help layer the space and you don€™t have to spend a lot of money on.€ The same can be said of Hungerford’s transformation of the entire house, whether during the holidays or not. The sum of all these pitch-perfect parts is a grand old house reborn.

This year’s Homes for the Holidays tour, in support of Kids Help Phone, takes place in Vancouver on November 28 and 29. For more info, visit org.kidshelpphone.ca/event

This year’s Homes for the Holidays tour, in support of Kids Help Phone, takes place in Vancouver on November 28 and 29. For more info, visit org.kidshelpphone.ca/event

Barb Sligl

Barb Sligl