Design trends: Comfortably contemporary 

The centre hallway is large, but doesn’t feel that way, thanks to the subtle visual artistry of linear patterns in the floor, and variety in cladding materials, from white oak cupboards to the black-framed-glass office doorway.  Photo by Mike Chajecki/Courtesy of DSBG

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One of the most common objections levelled at contemporary design is that all that open space, plain white walls, and absence of embellishment can make a space feel cold and even anonymous. Jessica Cinnamon’s design for a King City new build provides an elegant response to this notion. Using a delightful blend of finely wrought details, rich materials, and artful contrasts in scale and form, it’s certainly grand — but clearly also a comfortable and personal family home. 

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The clients are entrepreneurs with two university-age kids. Both parents love to entertain, whether friends, business colleagues or extended family, so a standout kitchen and plenty of elbow room for guests was high on the priority list. 

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“From the very beginning, the clients said they wanted the house to feel like a home,” says Cinnamon. “So even though it’s full of straight lines and big volumes, the goal was to introduce curves, texture and contrast to soften all that rectilinear geometry.” 

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The staircase is a study in the architectural arts, with its deceptively simple joinery and gracefully curving railing. Photo by Mike Chajecki/Courtesy of DSBG

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The home, built on a generous lot in a King City neighbourhood, feels surprisingly secluded, observes Cinnamon. “As you drive up the road through the woods, it doesn’t reveal itself practically until you’re upon it,” she notes. Even the neighbouring houses are screened behind trees, adding to the feeling of being in the country, rather than part of a suburban neighbourhood an hour away from a large city. 

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By contrast, the entire two-storey rear of the house consists of full-height windows, overlooking a wide-open vista of rolling hills, horse pastures and a golf course in the distance. From early on, making that view the central player was another important guiding principle. 

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Instead of track lights set into the family room’s coffered ceiling, there’s a marvel of modern technology: a magnetic strip into which wireless pot lights can be placed anywhere along its perimeter. Photo by Mike Chajecki/Courtesy of DSBG

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The front doors open into a grand, welcoming foyer with a ceiling that soars to a commanding 24 feet. In contrast — the first of several interesting architectural contrasts that have a striking effect on the feel of the space — the foyer leads into a central hallway where the ceiling stops down to about 12 feet. This hallway essentially sets the tone for the warmth and elegance that characterize the design as a whole. 

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 Here, as with most of the interior, the walls are mainly pure white, the better to capture the abundant natural light that washes down throughout. But it’s anything but sterile. A series of design “events,” large and small — a white oak-clad coat closet off to the left, walnut-stained alcove and console at the foot of the stairs — bring the large space down to human scale, and make the hallway feel both elegant and artistic. 

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You can clearly see the effect of playing with scale in the twin keylines of grey and charcoal that section the marble floor into adjoining squares, visually tempering its expanse. At the foot of the stairs, dead centre in both the room and the home, a large grey and black circle creates an almost literal centre point, from which all the main floor rooms seem to radiate. Directly above it, a chandelier hangs from the centre of a series of concentric circles, like ripples on a pond.