LONG TIME COMING

“Contemporary wide-open space is what people want today, and we achieved that while keeping the Victorian character with details like stained crown molding and window trim in the dining room.”
—TOM SILVA, TOH general contractor

From the moment we stepped into this house, I was redesigning everything,” says architect Derek Rubinoff, who, along with his wife, Robyn Marder, loved their home’s Victorian character but knew the house needed an overhaul. Its history as a two-family home had left behind some significant layout dysfunctions, including a bare-bones kitchen with its sink in the pantry and unattached lower and upper cabinets sitting on the floor. On the second floor was another kitchen and a dining area where bedrooms should have been, and a glass-paneled wood door connected the couple’s bedroom with their daughter’s.

But between