An inspired renovation: 

Amsted Construction teamed up with Chuck Mills Residential Design & Development Inc.
to turn a run-of-the-mill house into a breathtaking home.

The Ottawa Citizen
Saturday, January 25, 2003
Page: I8
Section: New Homes
Byline: Charles Enman
Source: The Ottawa Citizen

An inspired redesign of a ho-hum house has earned a national home design nomination for two area companies.

Chuck Mills Residential Design & Development and Amsted Construction, an area renovator,
are finalists for 2002 Canadian Home Builders' Association National Sales and Marketing Award in the category "Home Renovation -- Whole House."

The owner graciously allowed the Citizen to write about this unusual redesign. But he's a private man and doesn't want to take any public bows himself. Let's just say he's an area businessman whose reborn home is in a
gorgeous western corner of rural Ottawa.

For Chuck Mills, to whom the design plaudits go, the redesign was one of the more successful jobs he's taken on in recent years. "This is a case where we've really turned a sow's ear into a silk purse," he says. "To take something ordinary and turn it into something extraordinary -- that's the whole buzz of what we do."

The redesign was so complete that only one room in the home remains essentially as it was in the earlier incarnation.

Why not simply build on another property? Ask that question and it's obvious you haven't laid eyes on the property. It has a waterfall, a free-form pool, and is set in the woods.

"It's a beautiful, beautiful place," Mr. Mills says. Which is more than you could say about the original home -- a nondescript, dormer-roofed home with vinyl siding and no distinction.

"It had no curb appeal at all," Mr. Mills recalls. "There was no defined sense of entry, no real strong feel to anything, no statement made. The owner wanted a more sophisticated-looking home."

Now the home is definitely in the executive class. Mr. Mills created what he calls a "classic entry" -- an elegant, columned entry porch that opens onto a formal foyer.

An entirely new left wing was added. From the foyer, one steps into a large, sunken living room with a gas fireplace and expansive glazing.

Behind that is a new master bedroom with a spa-tub-equipped Ensuite bath and large walk-in closet. This master suite is large enough to include a retreat area to which the residents can repair to recharge their psychic batteries.

What had been the living room was converted into a bright, formal dining room. The owner specifically asked that the old kitchen -- a very simple and undistinguished U-shaped room with pre-manufactured cabinetry -- be turned into the focal point of the main floor. Now very open, it has a bar and has become the entertainment center.

All cabinetry is now customized, with hand-applied finishes. Beside the built-in desk area, there's a pantry. A large glass table centres the breakfast area at the back.

The renovation doubled the size of the main floor. The second storey has been completely reconfigured. "Essentially, I tore (the second floor) off and started from scratch," Mr. Mills says.

There had been three cramped bedrooms, bad enough for the owning couple, but equally dissatisfying for their two teenaged daughters. "You could barely squeeze a bed into them," Mr. Mills recalls. Now, there are only two bedrooms, one for each girl. Each bedroom has cathedral ceilings and elliptical windows, and connects to a vanity room. (The girls share a second-floor bathroom.) At the back of each bedroom are built-in window seats looking out on the pool.

The basement is an informal entertainment area replete with a dry bar, a foosball game, shuffle board, slate billiards table and a state-of-the-art media room. There is also a weight room "as well-equipped as some of the local gyms," Mr. Mills adds.

The owner approached Mr. Mills in the fall of 2001 with plans drawn up by another designer. By some standards, they were good enough, but didn't tap the full potential Mr. Mills saw in the house. For one thing, the earlier design would have kept the second floor intact -- ruinous, considering how cramped and uncomfortable the three bedrooms were.

"I did what I always do," Mr. Mills says. "I established a wish list, asked them how they lived and what they really needed." With these guidelines, he drew up an initial computerized plan that impressed the owner enough to win a go-ahead.

Amsted Construction, an award-winning firm Mr. Mills has worked with several times, started the sawing and the hammering early last year. By summer, the project was finished.

Amsted president Steve Barkhouse is as pleased with the result as Mr. Mills.

"I think we've created something quite spectacular," he says. "The house looks much better and, above all, is much more livable."

Upon completion, both were invited to a party in the house. As intended in the design, the guests congregated in the kitchen.

"As a focal point, the kitchen really works," Mr. Barkhouse says. "It's open, gorgeous, and you'd never be embarrassed to have people in it."

Mr. Mills has worked in Ottawa for 18 years and had his own design firm since 1994.

There are five finalists in the competition for the whole house renovation award and Mr. Mills has no idea if his design will take home laurels from the CHBA award ceremony, to be held in London, Ont. on Feb. 24.

"But, I think, we've already won something," he says. "Win, lose, or draw, we've already been classed among the five best in the country. I'm proud of that, just as I'm proud of the house itself."