Karen Xarchos

The Iafelice family’s comfy home fits neatly into a suburban neighbourhood, but open the door and there is a convergence of many countries under one roof Michele Oberoi writes.

From the outside, Stephanie and Mauro Iafelice’s large suburban home fits neatly into the well-heeled golf course community of Stonebridge.

Step inside, and it’s good-bye to predictable suburbia, hello to a convergence of design details from many countries under one roof.

The house is an international fête of design contrasts - from rustic Italian to rural Canadian with moose circling their son’s bedroom walls.

“It’s almost like our castle,” says Mrs. Iafelice while standing on the shiny limestone tiles in the foyer. The heavy stone floor continues down the hallway, ending in an intricate stone insert outside the home office.

“We wanted it to be very rustic Italian villa style.”

The pitted limestone floor fits the bill for rustic, and so do the shallow niches filled with vines that trail across the top of the second storey wall of the living room. The niches have been painted in a Greco/Roman theme with ruins in the foreground and a Tuscan landscape in the background. Looking out the faux arches, you can almost taste the red wine and feel the warmth of the country air.

“I really like old world European style,” says Mrs. Iafelice, whose family origins are German. Mr. Iafelice’s family origins are Italian.

Mrs. Iafelice, a communications officer for the City of Ottawa, and Mr. Iafelice, the owner of Pride Tile & Marble, knew exactly what they wanted before moving into their home in July 2002.

It took the entrepreneur-craftsman two weeks working on his own to install the customized stone and ceramic tiling throughout the house.

The couple hired mural artist Karen Xarchos to paint a faux finish wash of taupes, mauve, pecan brown and creamy yellow on the walls of the main floor. There are now vibrant murals of an Italian villa and bits of trompe l’oeil to tease the eye in this exotic house.

“I didn’t even know what was going to happen to the walls,” says Mr. Iafelice, who shares his wife’s tastes in decorating. “I trust her judgment.”

The foyer limestone changes to large raisin-coloured ceramic tiles in the kitchen, where Mr. Iafelice added decorative inserts and multicoloured border tiles. Smaller tiles and a contrasting border define the breakfast nook.

The kitchen walls are tiled in creamy tumbled marble to match the Venetian yellow granite of the countertops.

Dark cherry kitchen cabinets match the leather sofas and the tall entertainment unit in the attached great room, adding continuity to the two rooms. Unlike the flavour of an Italian villa in the front of the house, and the blend of rustic and modern in the kitchen, the sunken great room shows off a medieval Spanish theme.

A medieval-style tapestry and a coat-of-arms hang from the balcony in the great room, which offers a glimpse of an ancient looking faux block wall on the second floor. Look closely and you will notice candle wall sconces in the mahogany and yellow room and a corner where the artist has created a visual tale of plaster peeling off bricks. The same detail shows up again in the kitchen, adding another layer of old-world charm.

The medieval theme hits a peak in the stone fireplace, the rough texture and a small coat of arms and miniature suit of armour above the deep mantle.

The Iafelices, who love to entertain, want their home to be inviting and visually interesting. This is reflected in their choice of oversized, stuffed furniture, fat pillows, snuggly throws, and warm colours.

“We wanted this house to feel warm,” Mrs. Iafelice says.

Where the great room is comfortable, the formal dining room is elegant. The room has a decorative motif painted on the walls to match the swirling iron work on the china caninet, and faux stones have been painted around the open niche, matching niches next to the staircase.

The international theme continues in the deep red master bedroom, which is accented with gold stars. A big four-poster bed and tall pillar candles create a romantic quasi-Moroccan setting. An open arched entranceway with open niches topped with more candles leads to the ensuite bathroom. Mr. Iafelice’s detailed touch can be found throughout the ensuite-beige marble floor tiles set on the diagonal surrounded by an imperial brown marble border, and matching imperial brown marble wall tiles outlined in a beige brick-style border.

We wanted a house where people come in and put there feet up on the couch

Down the hall from the master bedroom, the look becomes solidly Canadian in the main bathroom and bedroom of the couple’s eight-year-old son, Rodayo. A moose stands under pine trees on one wall of the bathroom, a scene enlarged from a small chest of drawers located on the vanity. A moose wallpaper border circles the ceiling in the boy’s bedroom, and animal tracks are painted over the walls. Big stuffed fish are also hung around the room, and a funky fish mirror hangs over the bed.

Visitors fall under the international flavour of the home, often suggesting Mrs. Iafelice abandon her day job and concentrate on decorating.

“I’m always surprised when people just go on and on about our house,” she says. “I’ve always decorated to how I like it.”

By Michele Oberoi
Ottawa Citizen - Saturday, January 10, 2004

Take a bit of Florida, inspiration from France, Quebec limestone, and you have a unique bungalow beside the Jock River writes Michele Oberoi.

It’s unusual to reach for a doorbell and almost poke a plum-sized fossil embedded in a stone wall. Stone fossils and turning plans backwards are a common twist for a real estate agent and a contractor who have made a career out of building custom homes.

Their latest project is a lofty bungalow filled with design details in the rural village of Richmond, on the south fringe of Ottawa.

“I like a house that has interest,” says Cydney Green, a Royal LePage real estate agent with a background in interior design. Her contractor husband, David Wightman, is only too happy to turn her plans into detailed reality.

Located on the banks of the Jock River, the bungalow was intentionally built backwards on the lot to ensure privacy and accommodate an ancient willow tree that dominates the centre of the circular driveway.

The bungalow is a mix of styles, starting with a bit of French château when looking from the road and ending in pure Florida design with pale stucco, a deep curvy stone patio, wooden deck chairs, and ivory columns when facing the river.

“It’s that ying and yang between Old World and Florida Contemporary,” says Ms. Green, adding they eventually plan to spend half their year in the Sunshine State, building and renovating homes.

This is the eighth and most detailed home in the past decade the couple have built or renovated.

The fossil at the front door is one of many embedded in the charcoal limestone they brought from Québec to face the bottom half of the two-bedroom home.

Inside, the couple used large golden tiles of Jerusalem limestone in the front foyer. “This is really gorgeous stuff,” says Mr. Wightman. And horrendously expensive, he adds, but worth the price for the look it provides.

This is a home all about views, starting with the foyer, which opens into the great room with its baby grand piano and multi-coffered, 14-foot ceiling. Two sets of oversized french doors and high transoms provide a big view of the stone patio and the river.

The experienced contractor happily took on much of the labour, including construction of the patio and installation of the flooring. Disliking wood as a building material, he also insisted on concrete-form construction, instead of traditional stick framing.

“I don’t like the way stick frame houses move and I don’t like wooden decks. I like something solid,” he says.

The spacious kitchen is solid and shines with lots of details, including recessed lighting under the antique glazed wood cabinets, crown dentil moulding and chicken wire and glass cabinet doors. Two hidden vertical spice drawers pull out on both sides of the range, and triangular corner drawers make sure there’s no wasted space.

The massive granite cooking island has more cabinets, drawers, a cookbook shelf, a wine rack and a breakfast bar supported by hefty custom turned columns.

The kitchen is wide open to the family room, with its high tent ceiling, a multitude of windows, and two more french doors. After the plans were finalized and before the start of construction, Ms. Green got out her calculator, counting 15 exterior doors.

“She’s always known what she likes,” says Ms. Xarchos, adding she doesn’t follow fashion trends to decorate, but draws elements from different sources. “Beautiful things don’t go in and out of style,” says Ms. Xarchos.

There are also three washrooms, each with a unique theme. Ms. Green enjoys decorating washrooms, calling them jewel boxes, and places where you can be silly.

The guest bathroom is a favourite spot, thanks in part to finishing details, including orange glazed walls, a high-gloss black tile vanity and gold taps with painted leopard spots.

The taps, the bathroom walls and the antique glazing on the kitchen cabinets are the work of Ottawa mural artist, Karen Xarchos. The artist has added finishing touches to several of the Wightman-Green homes and there is still work to be done in Richmond. The next project is a tone-on-tone Harlequin finish for the home office walls.

Another jewel in the bungalow is the master bedroom ensuite. Here the 14-foot ceiling features an ornate crystal chandelier created by Mr. Wightman. Large shiny floor tiles, a deep tub, a walk-in glass shower and mirrored vanity walls add to the spacious feeling.

The toilet is hidden in a scroll-topped closet behind an opaque glass french door.

Across the room, a small gothic window over one sink is a nod to the church visible through the glass.

“It’s my oasis,” Ms. Green says of the ensuite. “It’s definitely my retreat.” At one point, the couple thought it would be their final home, but the next project is already on the horizon.

“I have hobbies of decorating and moving,” says Ms. Green. “My passion is design.” “It’s the process, not the destination,” adds Mr. Wightman.

By Michele Oberoi
Ottawa Citizen - Saturday, January 10, 2004

Whether a house is large and customized or more modest in its dimensions, owners are demanding finishing details for a unique package.

Details are the stylish accessories on a beautiful outfit, says Ottawa mural artist Karen Xarchos, “They complete it. That’s what people notice.”

“People are definitely into the details,” says Gerry Lavimodiere, co-owner of the awardwinning custom home building company John Gerard Homes.

Floors, kitchens, and bathrooms get the most attention, says veteran builder Denis Laporte.

The current trend toward open great rooms means fireplaces are getting a lot of attention as well, says the president and owner of Denmoor Development Corporation. An open great room also demands a well-designed kitchen.

“The kitchen has a huge impact,” he says. “Wood is the big finish in kitchens because of the great room.”

But whether they have a great room or not, homeowners “want granite in the kitchen,” adds Paul Franchuk, director of sales and marketing for Claridge Homes.

They also want crown dental molding, valance lighting, and glass cabinet doors. When it turns to floors, buyers are asking for granite in the foyer, and bamboo and cork to compliment the traditional choices of oak and maple.

Traditionally, fine detailing has been reserved for pricey, custom homes, but bigger builders are working with buyers to customize plans, adding their personality to suburban addresses or urban condos.

“Tract housing is getting much more custom oriented,” says Mr. Franchuk. “There is definitely a trend in the past two to three years toward upgrading.”

Even purchasers of small townhomes are looking for more features and details, such as open-concept floor plans, luxury ensuites, and cosy porches, he says.

Unlike the 1960’s, when people bought “as is” homes, buyers now expect to customize and personalize their new home, he says. “Purchasers are expecting more detail. Builders have to respond.”

“Purchasers are more demanding in terms of quality,” says Mr. Laporte, who has built both custom homes and suburban tract houses. Housing has become so expensive, people are expecting a lot for their money. And it doesn’t matter if the house is custom built or not. Buyers are treating it as custom, he says.

In order to ensure they’re getting exactly the look they want, many are hiring interior decorators, says Mr. Franchuk. They’re also spending a lot of time in front of the television.

“They’re watching the Home and Garden channel way to much,” jokes Mr. Franchuk, adding there are benefits to watching home improvement shows. “It keeps the designs fresh and honest.”

By Michele Oberoi
Ottawa Citizen - Saturday, January 31, 2004