Mentana
Some time ago, on a street called Mentana in the heart of Montreal’s historic Plateau Mont Royal neighbourhood, a young family moved into a duplex. They renovated the ground floor and rented out the second storey, thinking they’d get to redoing it eventually and converting the whole thing into a single family dwelling.
Fast forward to a few years later. The young family, growing and faced with the rapidly (and often inexplicably) changing municipal regulations, felt they had to make a move. If the charming but cramped and crooked second floor was to ever become an integral part of their home, it had to be done now. Enter La Firme.
Hearth and Home in the Heart of the Plateau
Our mandate on Mentana was to transform the downstairs into a wide open living area and turn the upstairs unit into 3 bedrooms and a versatile space that could accommodate guests, a hideaway office, and a play space for the kids.
The central load-bearing walls on both floors were removed and replaced with beams. The stairs were moved from the front to the middle of the house. These changes opened up each of the spaces to possibilities.
On the first floor, we increased the entry’s sense of privacy by creating a big mudroom. Its built-in storage and Flutex partition, placed strategically beneath a load-bearing beam, cuts the front door and mudroom off from the main living space.
The centrepiece of the livingroom is a new fireplace, designed and constructed to meet Montreal’s stringent particle emissions regulations. It acts not just as the literal hearth of the home, but as a metaphorical bridge to the family chalet.
Three skylights let in plenty of natural light. One, positioned directly above the staircase, grants life-giving light to an indoor garden – multi-tiered platforms built into the staircase that house potted plants.
Upstairs, the central space serves multiple functions. A secondary living room-playroom at base, its built-in storage hides a home office and a murphy bed for guests. The bathroom was situated for convenience, between this and the bedrooms.
The rear exterior of the house was also completely redone. After re-insulating, the task turned to simplifying and unifying. Recessed lines were added as accentuate to the opening in the masonry, playing graphically with the tall narrow windows.
A retractable was installed over the new white cedar deck. Capped off by a big tree which provides shade and intimacy, the house’s backyard is a little oasis in the former working class neighbourhood.
