FROM THE GROUND UP

John and Paola Chiodo’s contemporary Caledon bungalow delivers on two teenagers’ dream of a tranquil life in the country.

BY TRALEE PEARCE • PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN FITZGIBBON

AS JOHN AND PAOLA CHIODO tell the story of how we came to be sitting in a gleaming white kitchen sipping espresso and nibbling biscotti, it’s hard not to image the pair busting through a race tape strung across their front door.

“It felt like crossing the finish line,” John says of moving into this well-appointed Caledon bungalow in 2018 with Paola and their two boys,

Alessandro, 10, and Luca, 13. “Landing on this property and building this house – this was something we’ve talked about doing since we were 18 years old.”

And when John refers to building the grey stone house, he’s not speaking as a client. He and his team at his renovation and custom home company, CBG Homes, conjured it from foundation to roof. In close consultation with Paola, the team delivered a contemporary, single-level home which leans on classic elements to ground it. Crown mouldings are deep, doors are solid wood and the floors are gleaming stained maple. The wide living area and kitchen face the front door and foyer. To the west of the entrance is the formal dining room. To the east is a shared office and down the hallway are three bedrooms.

As the pair describes more about the design and construction process, their priorities – some might say obsessions – big and small aren’t far from the surface. You won’t find any screws on any light switch plates, for instance – a John thing. Paola, who works in telecommunications, needed lots of crisp white and a spacious kitchen with must-haves such as a pot filler over the stove. Paola’s take on the final product:

“You feel the space. It’s light, white and bright.”

That airiness is amplified by deep tray ceilings throughout the 3,800-square-foot main floor. “It’s a bungalow, but it doesn’t feel like a bungalow,” says John. While the space is double that of their previous home, the couple, who met in high school in Malton, agreed they didn’t want a house so big they could lose track of each other. Back when the teenage dream of owning a country home first captured their imaginations, John was already engrossed in the world of carpentry, thanks to family members in the business – fittingly, his Italian surname Chiodo means nail. “From a young age – before it was legal – I would visit job sites and see how houses were built from the ground up.