Georg and Petra Unger first came to Canada for a series of cross-country road trips in the early ’80s, eager to see the country’s expansive landscapes and modern residential architecture. As students in Germany—Petra studied interior design, Georg trained as a cabinetmaker—they had read about the Bridge House, a stone and glass box soaring over Stoney Lake in rural Ontario, by the architect Jim Strasman. “It was in all the architectural magazines at that time, and we thought Canada must be such a cool, design-forward place,” Petra says.
The Ungers were smitten, and they moved to Toronto a few years later, settling near High Park. They bought a small, two-storey Georgian-style property and planned to turn it into their dream home. But their renovation plans stayed on hold for more than 20 years, much of that time spent searching for the perfect architect (the couple’s design backgrounds made them highly discerning clients). By 2000 they still hadn’t found the right person—until Georg worked on a project with architect Ian MacDonald. MacDonald and the Ungers shared a passion for minimalism and the Canadian landscape, and they hit it off immediately. The Ungers hired MacDonald and Jeremy Campbell, an architect in his firm, to gut and rebuild their place, opening it up to the leafy landscape. The architects integrated the existing yellow brick walls into a bright, contemporary design with floor-to-ceiling windows. They built a three-metre expansion into the sloping backyard and added a third floor, which has breathtaking views of the park—the kind of views the Ungers had been dreaming of for more than three decades.
To satisfy the city’s zoning stipulations, the Ungers planted a portion of the new garden with plants native to the ravine. Dogwood and hydrangea complement what they believe to be one of High Park’s tallest pines.
Stunning. Simple elegance; and there is certainly a Canadian aura in the design.
October 12, 2011 at 9:24 pm | by momB