THE INTERIORS ISSUE

From an architectural photographer and his graphic designer partner seeking an oasis away from the city to an architect building his own home from the ground up, this year’s Interiors issue goes behind the scenes with the experts themselves to showcase the painstaking thought and creativity that goes into designing and decorating their own homes. Also in this issue: A grandmother who posed for members of the Group of Seven and the artwork that came of it, plus an artist who turns old radios into MP3 players, a look at local collectors and their collections, and more than 160 pages of great city style and stories.

Letter from the Editor

An issue devoted to experts and their spaces is something I’ve always wanted to do. Each of us seeks to shape our home into a place where we feel comfortable and happy, a space that rejuvenates us at the end of a busy day. Unfortunately, most of us amateurs go about this noble goal in a slapdash sort of way. How radically different is the process of home design — and the results — when a curatorial eye is at play?

What we learned was surprising. Diversity was the name of the game in the new, or newly renovated, homes of our six experts, all involved professionally in fields that centre on architecture and design. There is, it turns out, no magical crib sheet. We saw bright and bold, fresh and family-friendly, contemporary, romantic, and sometimes any number of these themes at play in one location. But there was one unifying feature. The expertise of these homeowners allowed them to be selective. With a true sense of what would work, they chose brilliantly in creating homes that reflect who they are and that bring them great joy.

They may not end up looking exactly as originally imagined, but no matter. In conceiving this issue’s series of three “Ideas in the Making” columns, we sought to explain the creative process from start to (almost) finish — to get inside the minds of talented creators who come up with the projects we wish we’d developed. Writer Patrick Langston does an outstanding job of exploring the thinking behind three ideas currently in various states of completion: a Japanese-inspired skinny house, a Canuck-themed art installation, and an eco-fashionable condo project. Doesn’t get much more varied than that.

Coming Up: April marks Ottawa Magazine’s 15th anniversary! Tune in as we cele-brate — and have some fun with — some of the thousands of stories that have graced our pages as Ottawa has grown from a big small town to a small big town. As well, we take an unorthodox look at official Ottawa and follow a victim of crime as he documents his arduous recovery process.

Sarah Brown, EDITOR

feedbackottawa@stjosephmedia.com

FEATURES: AT HOME WITH THE EXPERTS

In Living Colour
In designing the interior of her own house — a century-old brick double in New Edinburgh — decorator Henrietta Southam was prepared to take chances, break the rules, and be very, very patient as she hunted for treasures to adorn her space

Patience Rewarded
An architect couple envisage their new house as a work-in-progress — a living lab whose elements can be modified gradually as their family changes and new ideas present themselves

Onward and Upward
In designing his first house for himself, Barry Hobin goes tall, building a three-storey showstopper with glorious vistas of the Gatineau Hills

Human Nature
An architectural photographer and a graphic designer combine their skills to imagine a home that marries tranquility and modernity

Preservation Recommended
Irene Langlois modernizes a neglected century-old Glebe house in a way that honours the building’s history and maximizes the light

COLUMNS

Ideas in the Making
Looking at three projects and the people and processes behind them (a super-compact, super-narrow house; two innovative art installations in Moscow; and a new condo building in Hintonburg)

Great Space: Sitting Pretty
Now an 86-year-old grandmother, Margot Johnston discusses the legacy of her father, former National Gallery of Canada director Harry Orr McCurry, and tours Ottawa Magazine through her art-filled
“granny cube”

The Collectors
Baseball cards. Butterflies in shadow boxes. Vintage couture. What is it about collectors and their collections? What objects do they pursue and why? Five gatherers discuss their flights of fancy

THIS CITY

Marc Adornato turns old radios into MP3 players • Eyeballing crafty castoffs and found materials in woodworker Oliver Drake’s studio • The changing face of Old Ottawa East • A mouse-inspired objet d’art • Artists create a chain of love • Instagram writ large

CITY SELECT

Food
The most unusual story of a yak farmer

Tasting Notes
Wines to warm heart and soul

Restaurant Reviews

Events Calendar
Make the most of February and March

The End
The Ogilvy Building gets a facelift

Sourcebook
Ottawa Magazine visits three kitchens and two bathrooms to bring back the goods on how — and where — the homeowners got their great ideas this city