Vast windows allow condo owner to love snowy and rainy weather outside
BY JULIE GEDEON
STYLING: JUDITH GOUGEON
When there’s a blizzard in Montreal, François Simard’s condo feels like the inside of a snow globe. “With the floor-to-ceiling windows expanding two storeys, you can see the snowflakes flying absolutely everywhere,” he says. “It’s just as spectacular when it rains hard and all the droplets trickle down the glass.”
François had been thinking of buying a Montreal condo some years ago when he was forced to cancel a ski trip with friends because he fell and injured a finger. “I went to a café to console myself and, flipping through the weekend newspaper, saw the large advertisement for a brand-new condominium project being opened to the public that day,” he recalls. “I was the first person in line when the developers opened their doors, and I bought the best two units in the building.”
As a corporate image designer, he recognized the potential for the space. He converted the stacked 1,600-square-foot units into a single two-storey 2,500-square-foot condo. “I still pay condo fees based on 3,200 square feet, but having the 25-foot-high ceiling over the living room makes it so worth it,” he says.
By buying the space in Old Montreal before its actual conversion, he was able to customize and upgrade all of the finishes. Hot water tubing provides radiant heating under the flooring – a welcome aspect during Quebec winters. Recessed overhead lighting casts a glow on the main living area while remaining subtle.
François wanted a modern, minimalist look with a few pleasantly overstated elements for impact. Functionality and flexibility were also important for holding large parties. One of the two kitchen islands is mobile so it can be moved anywhere or join perfectly with the larger stationary unit. Everything else in the brushed stainless steel kitchen is sleek.
In the living room, the sectional seating consists of modules from Perez that can be arranged in a myriad of ways. “It’s practical and makes it easy to change up the look and feel of the condo,” François says.
Always travelling for work, he consistently scouted the shops and galleries in New York, London, Paris and other design-focused cities for elements that would define the space with some of the most unique furnishings the world has to offer. The glass bathtub he bought in Sydney, Australia, is so original that he decided to put it in his bedroom. “I bought it more as a sculpture than a tub,” he says, “but it’s still nice to soak in it once in awhile and look out at the amazing view of the city.” The water drains into a customized rock basin embedded in the floor.
In the bathroom, the floor and walls are entirely marbled except for a limestone counter that François also bought in Sydney. The sink opening allows water to cascade into a drain hidden where the floor meets the wall. A hinged mirror from London can be moved closer for a better shaving angle.
The corridor at the top of the stairs is actually a cleverly disguised storage area. Woody vines create a coral-like sculpture against a backdrop of seashells painstakingly sewn onto descending strands of rope to form a beach-inspired draping. “You can’t even see the shelving,” François says. “And it really has that museum or chic hotel lobby atmosphere when friends are over for cocktails or a party and they sit on the leather banquette and look out at the view or down into the living area.”
A few steps away in the bedroom, an oversized leather headboard, custom-made by Kravet, where François works, shows how corporate furnishings can be integrated into a home to make a bold statement. “The brown warms the room,” François says. “I used various shades of grey elsewhere to tie the space to the rest of the condo.”
He found the perfect chaise longue in Paris and cozied up its clean lines with oversized pillows. “The exaggerated white shag carpet is the kind of contrast I like against otherwise clean lines,” he says. The exaggeration is repeated with the area rugs throughout the condo.
The primarily white, grey and black colour scheme is contrasted with a brilliant splash of burnt orange on two sofas that pick up on the similar tones in most of the artwork and wood paneling.
Chandelier lighting over the main living space adds a touch of sparkle that can be admired at eye level from the upper floor without obstructing the windows. The sheer white curtains extending two storeys in length for the windows, as well as along the open perimeter of the bedroom readily block unwanted glare while maintaining an expansive space. The sheers discreetly hang to the side when the remarkable views are being admired.
