What it is: Six-bedroom, detached home in Southlands.
Price or rent: Bought for $1 million, five-and-a-half years ago.
Square feet: 4,500.
Occupants: Jean-Francis and Alessandra Quaglia, chef-owners of Provence Marinaside and Provence Mediterranean Grill, sons Matisse and Remi and Grace, our Godsend!
Major selling feature: The openess and large rooms.
First thing we changed: We tore out the avocado-green shag carpet and most of the wood panelling from the walls of the living room and entrance hallway. It was actually nice rosewood paneling so we kept two panels, one on each side of the marble fireplace. We cut two pieces of the shag into the letters R and M and put them in the boys rooms. Its a cute little accent on the now cream carpet.
Features we brag about: For Alessandra, its the dance studio/party room with wall mirror and disco ball. For Jean-Francis, its the recently renovated master bedroom and bath.
That one conversation piece: We always tell people about the rotten wall we found that the home inspector didnt. It was a dividing wall between the dining room and front entrance hallway and just above it was a faulty window that leaked water for years. It cost a bit of cash to fix and I was quite annoyed at the sellers for not disclosing this info and sent them a somewhat rude letter. I heard from the neighbours later on that they always saw the roof repair people at the house trying to fix it. It ended up being a kind of blessing, actually, because its absence gives a beautiful openness to the main floor.
The kitchen: Being chefs, the kitchen is a very important room. We recently replaced a fluorescent light with a skylight and replaced the back entrance door and small window with a 10-foot sliding door to have more light. Were not crazy about the colour of the cabinets. Theyre very dated. The Arborite counters are a very strange colour and we look forward to changing them out for either granite or Caesar stone quartz. But were definitely keeping the wood top for baking!
Best part of your neighbourhood: Its so nice and quiet. We live directly in front of a golf course on a cul-de-sac so we dont have to look into anyone elses house just greenery. Were so fortunate.
Downside: There arent enough young, hip people who like to party, so we often get complaints when the music is too loud at 9 pm!!!
Neighbourhood haunt: Irashai Sushi (Kerrisdale) has the best Dragon Roll in the city.
Compared to our last place... The kitchen is much bigger with more counter space and an amazing wooden work top. We used to have one of those half-sized stoves and it was difficult to cook large items in.
Most recent kitchen purchase: A Braun juicer because its quiet for my daily freshly squeezed OJ!
Favourite home activity: We enjoy dancing in the party room and cooking for friends equally. We recently had a party and I believe there were about 65 people in total. We had four dance floors playing Salsa, Bachata, Top 40, and Reggaeton. The dance floor in the garage had its own hot tub!
