The homes we've bought and brought back.
We finish about two homes a year. Not because we can't do more — because this is how we like to work. The right number of trades on site, the right materials.
The tired bungalow off Manning.
A 1971 three-bedroom bungalow, sold by the family of the original owner. Original kitchen, original bathroom, cracked driveway, oil tank in the basement. Structurally sound underneath all of it.
New kitchen with a proper pantry, new main bath, refinished oak floors under the carpet, converted to gas, added laundry off the kitchen. Kept the trim details — they were better than anything we'd have bought.
A young family from Scarborough. They saw it on the second Saturday we listed and brought their parents back the next day.
★★★★★"The estate lawyer had told my mother it would take six months. It took four weeks and we never had to open the door for a stranger."
A century home that hadn't been touched since the late nineties.
A 1908 semi on a quiet street north of Danforth. The owner had lived there forty years and moved in with her daughter. Plaster in fair shape, knob-and-tube still in half the walls, roof at the very end of its life.
Full electrical, new roof, insulation from the outside so we didn't lose the plaster, new kitchen at the back opening onto the garden, one bathroom rebuilt and one restored. Kept the transoms, the pocket door, the newel post.
A couple in their forties, first-time buyers of an older home, moved from a condo downtown.
★★★★★"Daniel came back three times before writing the offer. My daughter said that's when she knew he wasn't the usual sort of buyer."
An inherited split-level, sold to a family moving up.
A 1976 four-level, sold by two brothers after their father's passing. Neither lived in Ontario. Full basement, dated but clean throughout, no deferred repairs.
A lighter touch than usual — new kitchen, new flooring on the main level, paint everywhere, a rebuild of the family-room bathroom, and the front garden cleared and simplified.
A family moving up from a townhouse in Ajax. Two kids and a dog. They wrote us a card at Christmas.
The relocation. Closed in nine days.
A 2004 two-storey in a quiet crescent. Owner had accepted a role in Calgary and needed to be there in three weeks. Good shape but not show-ready.
Light cosmetic — paint, new kitchen counters and hardware, refinished the main bath. Fixed the sagging back deck properly this time.
A newly-arrived family from Mississauga. Same-school-district move; parents walk the kids to class.
A short note on materials.
We don't over-renovate. If a floor can be refinished, we refinish it. If a piece of trim is worth saving, it's saved. Local trades — the same electrician, plumber and framer on almost every job — and Canadian materials where we can.
Have a home like these?
If your house needs work — or is simply ready to be someone else's — we'd like to take a look.