This is Rochelle’s fabulous home. Rochelle and her family have recently moved back to Canada after living abroad for the last 23 years, and in Hong Kong, for the last 7. Rochelle’s interior design degree from Parson’s in New York has served her well as is evident through the house. Wanting a pied-à -terre in Vancouver while her kids finished school, Rochelle and her husband took an old Kitsilano house and undertook a massive renovation.
They maintained the exterior character of their shingled Kitsilano house to respect the context of the neighbourhood. Only the large modern front door hints at what lies on the other side.
Typically homes of this vintage are comprised of small rooms where one must pass through one room to get to another. To offset this rabbit warren feel, Rochelle has opened up the rooms and totally modernized the aesthetic. Â The living room, dining room and kitchen are all one large space. She recognized that with so much openness, ample storage would be a must. So all along one wall are built in storage cabinets setting a clean datum line for art and accessories.
The stairs are pure sculpture. Glass rails are bolted with stainless steel fasteners transparently enlarging the space.
Cleverly tucked away behind the kitchen is the generous ‘back of house’ where laundry, more storage, and home office reside. Recognizing that life happens, here the kids can drop their backpacks, shoes and what-have-you without impacting the pristine interiors of Rochelle’s home.
Of particular beauty is Rochelle’s homage to China and Hong Kong, manifested through artwork, ceramics and the cinnabar high-gloss tiles in the powder room.
The couple are avid art collectors, and have acquired work ranging from graduating artists at Emily Carr to eclectic pieces that span the globe.
Above is the Scandia Easy Chair, 1957, by Hans Brattrud of Norway. Their sophisticated design aesthetic clearly shines in their collection of classic modern furniture pieces, right from the entry porch with its Verner Panton chairs through to the Saarinen dining table with Tulip chairs, nicely rounded out by the Arne Jakobsen Egg and Saarinen’s Womb chairs.
Even family time is design accented as the family plays backgammon on a Jonathan Adler tapestry board in the casual attic lounge.