They call it downsizing, but who are we kidding? Four glam condos that redefine urban opulence
The Windsor Arms
Neighbourhood: Yorkville
Built: 1999
Architect: Page and Steele
Owner: Nancy Pencer, philanthropist and president of the Pencer Brain Trust
Nancy Pencer’s 5,000-square-foot apartment, one of 28 residences in the Windsor Arms Hotel, is Paris–meets–South Beach: impeccably stylish and sourced, with a little bit of flash. The apartment is a major departure from Pencer’s traditional Forest Hill home, where she lived with her husband, Gerry, the former CEO of Cott beverages, until his death from brain cancer 12 years ago. She decided her new place had to feel “young and contemporary,” so she bid adieu to all the chintz and started fresh with designer Kristi Morrison, who was given carte blanche to create the residential equivalent of an haute couture dress. It took four travel-filled years for Pencer and Morrison to furnish the space with antiques sourced from New York, Paris and London.
Pencer moved in five years ago and has been entertaining ever since: 50-person dinner parties, Mount Sinai membership teas and fundraising dinners for the National Ballet. Her unusual glass dining room table, which has a transparent underlayer that has been filled with everything from candy to goldfish to flowers, is a conversation starter: at the Mount Sinai event, it was lined with Isabella Briatico diamonds.
Amalgam, the large fuchsia painting, is by the American abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler. Pencer, who sometimes lends her art out to museums, bought it from Gallery One.
The tufted chairs, from L’Atelier, are upholstered in wedding dress–like satin from Donghia.
Obscured by the chair and column is an edition of Helmut Newton’s 65-pound oversized coffee table book Sumo, which costs around $15,000 and comes with its own Philippe Starck–designed stand.
The Vietnamese urns are from Teatro Verde.
When Morrison found the mahogany and brass Empire-style table in Paris eight years ago, she wasn’t exactly sure where it would go. It quickly found a home front and centre in Pencer’s salon.
The Italian renaissance-style daybed is covered in burlap to contrast all of the other luxe pieces.
The massive quartz crystal bowl is also from L’Atelier.
The Regency chandelier is from London antique dealer Mallett.
The two iron end tables are in the style of sculptor Alberto Giacometti. On top: Tibetan cowbells.
The silver upholstered chairs are from Pencer’s Forest Hill home; they used to be stained brown and covered in flowered chintz.
The floors are leonardo limestone imported from Italy and cut in Toronto.
Once a fan of pastel pink, Pencer now gravitates toward bold fuchsias and purples to punctuate the otherwise neutral colour scheme. “As I get older, I feel I need something richer,” she says. Thus the bright mohair throw from the Irish Shop.
The dining room chandelier is from Nicholas Haslam’s London shop.
Pencer likes her flowers arranged in the signature leaning style of Jeff Leatham, the florist who rose to fame at the George V hotel in Paris.
The glass and chrome dining table, a custom design by Kristi Morrison, has a transparent under-table layer (accessed with a key) that can be filled with items for display. Pencer once filled it with jelly beans for a children’s party; during a Mount Sinai fundraiser, the table showcased diamonds. (Security guards were hired to keep a close watch.)
Pencer’s glassware and fine china are stored behind mirrored panels.
Morrison had plans to upholster the Louis XVI–style chairs in fabric from Primavera, but Pencer preferred the original muslin as a less fussy counterpoint to all the high-gloss finishes.
Folding glass doors close off the inner terrace, which has heated Algonquin limestone floors and gas lanterns. Pencer entertains outside year-round.
The sculpture is of Bacchus, the god of wine. Before the move, it had a more discreet home nestled in Pencer’s Forest Hill garden; she refused to leave it behind.
Most of the outdoor furniture is by Parisian designer Christian Liaigre.
(Images: Michael Graydon)
Because correctness is important, even in the Twitter age, the architect firm is Page + Steele, not Page and Steele.
June 2, 2010 at 7:13 am | by KimberleyOnce again Toronto Life has presented an article that does not reflect a “Toronto life” of someone or some couple who makes less than $3 million a year or live off some sort of extended inheritance. I think the furnishings in some of those glam condos cost more than the actual unit of my own humble downtown abode.
June 2, 2010 at 12:15 pm | by LapAll 4 condos have a very similar look,you should have featured a more eclectic mix of design styles.
June 2, 2010 at 4:16 pm | by ValI am not sure what Lap’s point is. I am retired and live on a modest fixed income but very much enjoy seeing what some of those who have much more disposable income do with it. I think we are all part of “Toronto Life” and I am sure looking a Ms Pencer’s apartment is much more interesting than looking at mine.
June 3, 2010 at 10:42 am | by Georgeboring and uninspiring apartments manufactured and assembled in a factory somewhere in toronto’s suburbs.
June 3, 2010 at 11:21 am | by bianca marijanby no means do these apartments reflect opulence, just reinstate the owner’s financial means, reconfirming the old adage that money does not, in fact, guarantee that beautiful, subtle sense of style.
also, the thrill of salivating at others’ acquisitions is gone post a pretty ugly recession, we want to see inspiring spaces we live in. we, the everyday people.
The chair featured in the “Regency” numbered 15 is not the tulip chair but the Organic chair co-designed with Charles Eames in 1940, etc., etc., (look it up). The tulip chair is actually featured at number 13.
June 3, 2010 at 11:39 am | by rubennow this one is done with taste, nothing gauche like some ostentateous/obscene display of wealth
July 22, 2010 at 4:53 pm | by justmeWow, Nancy Pencer’s apartment is absolutely stunning!!!
August 3, 2010 at 12:21 pm | by Style GuruI love it. Elegant, fresh and unique. Apparently Bianca did not read the source list – this apartment was hardly put together in the suburbs. World class design – Bravo
I don’t get the point of showing this condo.
August 3, 2010 at 9:59 pm | by hollaceSeems like an attempt to imitate the 80′s.
I always think Toronto reflects it’s own pulse, it’s own new and old sensibilities .
You wasted space that could have highlighted someone more reflective of the Community.
I must say, The Windsor Arms apartment is breathtaking.
September 7, 2010 at 10:59 pm | by Lilibetonly needed one. Some people spend hours visiting thrift and second hand stores looking for two identical shoes in two different sizes.
October 29, 2011 at 4:32 am | by Adizero Rose 2.0 Shoes