“For a high-end residence located right outside of downtown Toronto, the owners employed a wide range of marble tile, complemented by custom-made tile mosaics, to create an environment reminiscent of the surrounding landscape.”
-Heather Fiore
Recognized for its unique use of stone tile and custom mosaic, this chateau style, nature-inspired home just won an award for “Residential Stone Installation” at the 2015 Coverings Installation & Design (CID) Awards. CID is a program that honours outstanding design and installation of tile and stone in residential, commercial, sustainable and international projects.
The story of the home’s creation, “Marble Enhances Nature-Inspired Estate”, was captured in the November 2015 Issue of Stone World Magazine by Heather Fiore in an interview with Josie Abate, owner of Ambience Design Group.
Our master ensuite design is featured on the front cover. You can check out the full article here.
This blog post will share exerpts from the Stone World article along with some details of our own.
“The exterior draws you in as you approach the large parcel of land on which the home is built. Since the 16,400-square-foot home sits on a 200-acre lot, surrounded by nature, Abate and her team wanted to incorporate natural elements, but also make it a bit modern, since it’s also located in close proximity to downtown Toronto.” -Heather Fiore
This chateau inspired custom home has been customized inside and out with stunning and unique design features. Ambience Design Group worked with the architectural plans from David Small Designs and the team at Teddington Homes to bring this project to life.
“Although this design is highly ambitious, Abate and her team are well-versed in catering to their clients’ every need, having completed high-end projects like this before.” -Heather Fiore
“The owners gave us almost ‘carte blanche. The exterior of the home is a small, French chateau, so we took cues from that. We also wanted to infuse nature and bring it inside — give life to the home.” – Josie Abate
When you walk through the front door, it’s actually very inviting. The main medallion in the entry foyer becomes a focus, but it doesn’t fight with the staircase.
We wanted to design something different, so we all put together some ideas. We all came up with some sketches and transformed those into technical drawings using AutoCAD and Photoshop to refine our ideas. The final colored renderings clarified the creation of the medallions so the client could actually see them the way they were going to look.
“They have so much light coming in — you can see light coming in from everywhere — so we said, ‘let’s bring it in to the design elements.’ The intent was to complement, not overpower, certain elements, such as the ornate staircase made up of wrought iron in the foyer of the home.” -Josie Abate
Although Abate and her team strived to create a balance between Old World-style and a contemporary feel, she explained how they still managed to develop a “traditional layout” for the home. “It’s very symmetrical.” -Heather Fiore
“On the left side, there’s the living room, then on the right side, there’s the dining room. When you walk into the home, it leads visitors into those areas. We thought it was welcoming and that it worked.” –Josie Abate
“We wanted to use very elegant, extremely high-end materials for everything. So, we created something that was traditional with light colors and a modern touch.” –Josie Abate
“To accomplish a perfect blend of styles throughout the home, Abate and her design team selected a varying range of stone tile to utilize, the majority of which was marble.”-Heather Fiore
All of the marble slabs and tiles used throughout the home, as well as the granite slabs, were supplied from Olympia Tile & Stone in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. All of the quartz countertops were supplied from Caesarstone Canada in Concord, Ontario, Canada; and all of the marble, glass, steel and custom mosaic pieces used for the second, third and fourth bedrooms’ ensuites were supplied from Orro Mosaic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The complex installation was completed by Rockford Tile Contractors in North York, Ontario, Canada.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE FIRST FLOOR
The Living Room is a traditional style and features a custom designed fireplace, wall panelling and a custom ceiling design. We completed the look with soft and elegant drapery and refined and detailed furniture and lighting.
The Kitchen follows this look and features a custom ceiling design. Window treatments, lighting and furniture complete the look and create a welcoming environment for guests.
The Master Bedroom Quarters is composed of the master bedroom, walk-in-closet and master ensuite. The master ensuite includes arches and columns to define the shower and tub area, a ceiling dome and raised ceiling with hand painted design to match the his and hers custom vanities.
The Master Closet is customised with cabinets, an island and bench. An ideal space to get ready in!
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE SECOND FLOOR
The second floor hallway features wainscotting and custom designed skylights.
All four bedrooms have a custom ceiling design and their respective ensuites feature a custom vanity and shower tile design.
“The custom-designed feature wall behind the tub truly evokes the nature-inspired theme the design team was trying to achieve.” -Heather Fiore
FINALLY LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE WALK-OUT BASEMENT
“In the basement, it seems the most color — in the broadest spectrum — was utilized, incorporating some of the owners most ambitious design ideas.” -Heather Fiore
When you first arrive on the lower level, you notice another beautiful floor medallion, a custom ceiling medallion and the beautiful etched glass doors to the wine cellar.
“One of the most impressive features of the basement is the custom-designed, crescent-shaped wine cellar, which incorporates a custom-made medallion on the floor as well as a custom-designed tile mosaic in the middle of the wall — created and supplied by The Tile Mural Store in San Antonio, FL — which serves as the room’s focal point.”-Heather Fiore
“We worked from AutoCAD drawings and elevation drawings. For most of the areas, we did colored renderings. The client told me it was hard for her to visualize what it would look like once it was completed, so we had colored renderings completed for all of the important areas in the home.” –Josie Abate
“The sauna is quite possibly one of the most calming features of the home and which stands out the most from the nature-inspired vibe the designers were trying to accomplish, given its ocean-like color scheme.” -Heather Fiore
The spa area is divided into the exercise room and sauna which features a curved open shower and mosaic tile design along with a custom designed vanity.
The stunning home theatre is a treat to be enjoyed with friends and family.
This entertainment space was designed with the look + feel of a real movie theatre in mind, especially with the lit marquee at the entrance. Other features include the movie poster light boxes, bold red curtains, detailed aisle columns and fibre-optic ceiling lighting. Soundproofing was an important aspect and involved upholstering the walls, among other things.
The basement has it’s own kitchen and living area for further entertaining. The style for this space is more contemporary and features a custom ceiling design, crown moulding, custom cabinetry and a walk out to the beautiful greenspace in the back.
The lower level powder room uses a modern design and features a floating custom vanity with mosaic backdrop, 3D wave-like panelling on the ceiling from Soelberg, and a custom-designed glass partition separating the toilet area.
Although this home was one of Abate’s more ambitious projects, taking about two years to complete, she said her clients couldn’t be happier with the finished product. -Heather Fiore
“Both of them were extremely overjoyed, I got a big hug; then, I understood how happy they were. I was honored to work on this project with them.”–Josie Abate
It was a pleasure being involved in all of the interior architectural details and decoration for this large chateau style, nature-inspired home.
We creatively documented the entire project in a custom book we designed as a keepsake for the client. You can check it out here.
View more images of this home on our online portfolio.
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