A cunning cottage

A new classic in Cordova Bay

BY WYNN HORN

PHOTOS BY THOMAS SANTALAB

He should have known better.

L E F T : A fireplace in the kitchen of the Webb home was transformed from ordinary to sublime, with a trowel, stucco, plaster – and an expert eye.

T H I S PA G E : Mom relaxes in her bedroom; Chase does the same in an over-sized leather living room chair. The key in rooms with soaring ceilings is proportionately-sized furnishings.

When the co-owner of a new Vancouver Island home went away recently, he made a fatal error... He left his spouse, the highly-creative owner of a Victoria home furnishings store, alone with several buckets of stucco, mortar, plaster and paint.

In his absence, the family’s kitchen fireplace was transformed from a plain brick-fronted box to a dramatic and elegant Tuscan-finished showpiece.

Fortunately, Tory Webb, owner of Aspen Leasing, is accustomed to coming home to such surprises. And, luckily, the creator of the new masterpiece was Jacqueline Webb, owner of Sweet Peas at Home, and a talented self-taught faux-finisher and designer in her own right.

When the Webbs and their four children (Brianna, Jordan, Konner and Chase) decided to move to Cordova Bay from Vancouver into a custom, self-designed home, the wish-list – including the kitchen fireplace in question – was influenced by the casual/elegant look of the West Coast-style homes in the ski village of Whistler, B.C. That meant an open plan for the main floor living and eating space, two-storey ceilings in the

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F L O W : “I think texture, height, balance, symmetry is key, as well as consistency in style... People are not thinking past, ‘No we need nightstands...’ It’s the ‘matching bedroom suite’ style of thinking. ”I only buy things I can use in any room in the house. I move stuff around all the time. It’s almost crazy; I don’t know what it is. But

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people tell me every room flows.”

living room, exposed wood, rustic materials, hardy flooring, a huge exterior deck (the Webbs seated 120 people at a wedding last year) – and absolutely no formal rooms.

“Your home has to be your home – a lot of people have these formal rooms they don’t use.

I said I don’t want a big formal living room or a huge entryway ­– that is a huge waste of space,” comments Jacqueline.

“We loved the architecture in Whistler, everything about it, so we sort of took some of the concepts from there and brought it here.

For one thing, we wanted an open concept

L E F T : The Whistler-style living room has two-storey ceilings, a river rock fireplace & large windows (couches & chairs: Chintz & Co. Urn & table: Sweet Peas).

T H I S PA G E L E F T T O R I G H T : A silver candelabra contrasts with an antique kitchen scale; a reclaimediron mirror reflects the great room; Jordan’s pictureperfect bedroom (rag doll: hand-made by Jacqueline.

Furnishings: Sweet Peas At Home).

because of kids. Also, everyone was always in the kitchen, and we entertain a lot – it’s sort of the hub of the house – and that’s how we came up with this open plan on the main floor.”

Surprisingly, Tory and Jacqueline designed the home themselves and then took their ideas to a draftsman to flesh out the design.

“If you have a really good idea of what you want, you can often just use a designer, unless there are all kinds of structural things to think about,“ Jacqueline notes. “We also had incredible builders; they were so good.”

When the Webbs bought the land three years ago, a little shack sat near the front of the long, sloped property; behind it was nothing but thick second-growth forest. Under the Webb’s direction the land was partially cleared to reveal a lovely view of a valley, fields, ocean and

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Washington State’s Mount Baker, far in the distance.

The 4,600-square-foot family home has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, two sitting rooms and an open-space upstairs area for the children, looking down onto the main living room.

Half-way up the hill on the sloping property, the Webbs built a 1,500-square-foot red barn to house a games room (including pool table) and a large upstairs storage area. There’s also a three-car garage at the front of the house (with a housekeeper’s suite above), which Jacqueline concedes is mostly used for storage, largely because the house is slab on grade, meaning

there is no basement – a surprising omission in a West Coast home.

Another surprising element? The relatively small and intimate kitchen eschews the trend toward huge showcase kitchens. Pine cabinets, concrete floors and slate counters are complemented by the cozy gas fireplace, atmospheric lighting, small windows and dropped ceiling.

Next to the kitchen (hidden behind a curtained-off French door) is a small pantry containing an extra fridge and nearby is a separate baking and drink-making counter.

“It’s not a big kitchen but you can be cleaning over here, you can be mixing drinks in a separate area, sitting up here socializing at the counter, and it’s still a really functional space, even when 20 people in here,” Jacqueline points out.

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R I G H T : The Webb’s home is enhanced by a 1,200 square-foot deck with a well-used outdoor fireplace. (teak chairs, Chintz & Co.; metal patio furniture, The Bay; cast iron urns, Sweet Peas). The French doors under the pergola lead back into the living room.

T H I S PA G E L E F T T O R I G H T : A Georgia O’Keefestyle weathered cow skull (bought at auction) hangs from the river-rock chimney. A bent willow patio chair (garage sale: $5) and galvanized buckets filled with floating cherry-red apples complete the idyllic scene.

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The warm colours, dark slate countertops, chunky wooden bowls, huge candleholders, and giant urns of flowers all lend a romantic and comfortable feel, in sharp contrast to the brightly-lit, sparse and modern kitchens favoured by many homeowners.

It’s a look that carries through into the living areas, with deep, overstuffed couches, rustic cupboards (hand-made by Sweet Peas craftspeople) and large urns and candelabras.

Everything is big in proportion, as is appropriate for a house with two-storey ceilings.

Luxurious fabrics mix with reclaimed wood pieces and found objects. In the dining area sits a massive harvest table, found at a garage sale.

Over the living room fireplace hangs a wagon wheel Tory bought for Jacqueline from an antique store. On the mantel are old tin plate ceiling tiles – similar antique tin plate ceiling medallions have been framed and hung on a wall in the ensuite bathroom.

Jacqueline and Tor y’s main desig n tenets? “I think texture, height, balance, symmetry is key, as well as consistency in style,” says Jacqueline. “I only buy things I can use in any room in the house.”

“I move stuff around all the time. It’s almost

crazy; I don’t know what it is. But people tell me every room flows. There isn’t a purple theme in one room and the yellow in the next. I don’t know why, I just think it has to flow in a house like this.”

Scattered throughout the house are original furniture pieces made from reclaimed wood. A games cupboard in the great room started with an old time-worn door, and is now framed with new wood. Leather chairs in front of the master bedroom fireplace were found at a garage sale and then re-covered. A tall bedroom cabinet in the master bedroom (by the French doors) is a combination of a reclaimed window and new solid pine... not your traditional night table, but exactly the height that was needed for balance in the extra-large bedroom.

The key, again, is that almost every item in the house can be moved to a different room, if things get stale. “That could go in my great room, that could go in my bathroom,” says Jacqueline as she walks through her rooms.

“I buy things or make things that can go anywhere because I get tired of things very quickly.

“It’s like breaking-all-the-rules decorating.

I mean people come in to me when they order beds and they say, Well what about nightstands?

R I G H T : Framed tin-plate ceiling medallions make an unusual backdrop; a gym is at rear.

THIS IMAGE: Breaking all the rules decorating: copper sinks, tile & a lush, gilt mirror.

QUEBECOR AD

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T H I S I M A G E : Brianna reads in Jordan’s bedroom,

a young girl’s dream, with a curtained-off four-poster, a pretty candelabra, mismatched bedside tables & a sweet daybed (a converted iron crib). RIGHT: Chase is first at the dining room table, an 8-foot-long garage sale find (bench: antique). The dining area is open to kitchen & living rooms.

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And I say, Well why don’t you try a nice cabinet with a glass door and stack your books and get a nice lamp but they’re not thinking past, No we need nightstands; it’s the ‘matching bedroom suite’ style of thinking.”

Jacqueline is an expert at spotting something old and figuring out how to give it new life: she and her staff simply build around the old elements and mimic the finish, usually leaving the original item with its weathered finish. In fact, one beautiful cupboard in the master bedroom is actually made from rain-beaten baseboards.

“One of my guys just left them out in the rain for a few years and then started building with them - and then of course they just started to fly out of the store, and I said, Oh No, that one’s coming home with me.”

Another design secret? Don’t be afraid to mix textures and periods. In the ensuite bathroom, hammered copper sinks from Texas sit below a large and very traditional gilt mirror, and across from framed, rustic ceiling medallions. In the same room is a huge, new glassed-in shower with tile floors and walls, measuring 7 feet by 7 feet by 9 feet high. Somehow, the mix works, because it adheres to the rules of consistency in height and effect and because it all imparts an element of drama and luxuriousness.

“A lot in our house is garage sale finds or furniture made from reclaimed windows and doors and wood,” says Jacqueline. “I love to decorate, paint, love to fix things up, strip furniture; I’m a trash-to-treasure junkie. That’s why I wanted the store. I love turning anything that has potential into something beautiful. I just think that anything that’s aged gracefully deserves to still be around.”

Eleven-year-old Jordan’s bedroom is another example of mixing graceful old and new elements. In this case, the unifying element is white. A white iron bed from Chintz & Co. is framed by white cotton curtains from Jacqueline’s store, and white cupboards from Sweet Peas. At the foot of Jordan’s bed sits an old iron crib: Jacqueline removed the sides and did a faux finish to mimic the paint on the large white iron bed, then added a fluffy slip-covered down cushion.

Like everything in this house, though, the reclaimed crib has a purpose: Jordan’s friends now sleep on the crib-cum-daybed during overnight visits.

“I love my things but you know what? I use it all. There’s very little IHS that’s purely decorative,” says Jacqueline. “I cook with my things, I use these bowls, we light candles every night, we light the fireplaces, we listen to

IHS

WEBB HOUSE SOURCES GUIDE

Draftsman – John Bell, Sidney Builders – Cullen Bros, Victoria Concrete – National Concrete, Victoria Tiles in bathrooms – Decora Tile, Victoria Cork floor – Oak Bay Broadloom, Victoria Couch, chairs, child’s bed – Chintz & Co., Victoria Custom-made furnishings (cited in story) – Sweet Peas at Home, Victoria Living room rug – William Morris Couches in great room (now re-covered) – Sager’s Home LIving, Victoria Blinds: Ruffel & Brown, Victoria

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