Restored grandeur:

Bill Renaud, a top Ottawa real estate agent, bought a rundown house on McLeod Street and polished it into a gem. Marcella Sousa visits the award-winning renovation.

The Ottawa Citizen
Saturday, October 21, 2000
Page: G1 / FRONT
Section: Homes: Resale/Rental
Byline: Marcella Sousa
Source: The Ottawa Citizen

Seven months and many cheques later, a 90-year-old Centretown home has been gutted, buffed and turned into a grand lady with many delectable stories for dinner conversation.

It certainly isn't hard to get fast word to the kitchen because workers found and replaced wiring to activate a servant's bell, says Bill Renaud, one of the city's top real estate agents
and owner of the restored home.

``We found a maid's bell in the kitchen and so we decided to keep it functional for the fun of it,'' says the Royal LePage agent, adding he was drawn to the house because of the walnut and cherry staircase that connects the three floors. He also saw the potential for entertaining spaces on the first floor and private areas on the second and third levels.

There is now a bell located on each level of the house, as well as under the dining room table.

There aren't any servants today, but the discrete bell comes in handy, says Mr. Renaud,
who hired top trades and designers to make over the McLeod Street house which was a
shambles when he bought it in July 1999.

Now the home has been restored on the outside, turning the clock back nine decades thanks to the design and supervision of veteran designer Chuck Mills.

Tonight, Mr. Mills and Friedemann Weinhardt, owner of Design First Kitchens won't have a bell and likely won't eat much of the roasted Prairie Chicken Breast in the ballroom of the Chateau Laurier as they wait to find out if they win honours for the serene glass and ceramic second-floor bathroom at the 2000 Housing Design Awards sponsored by the Ottawa-Carleton Home Builders' Association .

The Ensuite bathroom is a private second floor retreat that is more Tokyo than Ottawa. There are 11 showerheads in Mr. Renaud's vertical Jacuzzi that is tiled with river stone. An orchid garden sits at the head of a nearby Roman tub.

Earlier this month, the Jacuzzi and orchid garden helped Mr. Mills leave Windsor with top provincial honours for the McLeod Street renovations at the Ontario Home Builders conference. ``I didn't eat much lunch then because I was psyched,'' says the designer who has won several local honours in the past.

McLeod Street was one of his biggest projects and one of the most satisfying. ``It was really dilapidated,'' says Mr. Mills.

There were holes in the floor, concrete falling from the ceilings and bare wires hanging like spider webs. ``We even found an old ceramic tub with claw feet in the middle of the dining room.

"The people lived here a long time and got great use out of it,'' says Mr. Renaud. ``It was like an old beauty -- a grand home that needed to be restored to former splendor.''

Walls were knocked down and porches ravaged, while the basement was pitted and the attic retailored.

"I'm the only person I know who spent thousands of dollars making (a house) worse before making it better,'' says Mr. Renaud. ``We wanted to keep the estate look of the house and so we reconstructed the period detail, but made the house low-maintenance.''

The third floor was made into guest quarters with a separate bath and a media room without changing the feel of the home. Period-style windows complemented custom-designed doors also reminiscent of the early 1900s. And the main floor, intended primarily for entertaining, was also kept in period decor.

Although much of the home was gutted, the maid's bell was one of five key elements kept and restored in order to maintain the early-century feel of the home. The others included the exterior masonry, the staircase paneling and banister, the claw-footed bathtub and 70 per cent of the floors.

"Part of the character of the home were the slight undulations and imperfections of the floor and so we tried to keep and restore it for the most part,'' says Mr. Mills.

In the living room, subtle recessed lighting draws emphasis to a baby grand piano. To the left a low-heat fireplace adds a cozy mood to the room. A fainting couch sits in a bay window in the dining room.

The kitchen, with its large cabinetry and marble-topped island, evokes a past era, while hiding modern efficiencies. A quick peek behind closed cupboards and drawers reveals built-in spice racks, appliances and an automated espresso bar.

In the basement, the original masonry was exposed to add a rugged feel to the wine cellar, which is adjacent to a wine-tasting room.

"All they really wanted in the basement was storage for their wine and a walk-in cedar closet,'' says Mr. Mills. ``But the house has this old rubble stone foundation and I wanted to save the look, so I made an intimate wine-tasting area at the foot of the stairs.''

Where the main level camouflages modern aids, including the Aegis automated security and sound system, the second floor steps through to an another era.

The second floor is a complete master suite in a Japanese motif with a sitting area, an Ensuite bathroom, a change room and a meditation area,'' says Mr. Mills, who researched and

personally designed the Japanese Zen garden adjacent to the bedroom.

"I have a high-stress job and so when I come home I need a place to relax,'' says Mr. Renaud. ``The Zen garden and everything surrounding it is made from all natural fibres and woods, there's lots of light, not a lot of clutter and it's decorated with simple colours. Everything is calming.

"I love coming home and, in the end, that's why all the work was done,'' says Mr. Renaud.