Living in the Light and Play of Nature
Living in an architecturally designed house is an experience of the soul. An inspired architect is the mediator between earth and sun, man and world. Such was the architect of our home – Watchill House – Ron Thom (Order of Canada). This very private and architecturally designed estate in King City is singular and I am moved to share my experience of its nature with those who might desire to know more about the influence of artistic design on our everyday sense of wellbeing.
In this world of bigger – better – best, it is a delight to find sanctuary in a home that is at once simple and elegant. The open concept allows for informality and intimacy, while the terraced design offers changing vignettes of forest, hill, and sky which are a daily reverence to nature. Set on nearly three acres, use of granite and cedar within and without lend to the organic expression that has been called ‘west coast’ or ‘Californian’. To be sure, most of Ron Thom’s residential designs are found on the west coast. The few in Ontario are treasured for good reason and rarely change hands. Ron Thom is best known in this part of the world for the design of The Prince Hotel, Massey College (U of T) and Trent University.
Like a good suit, well cut of fine fabric, the house lends itself to any occasion or family dynamic. Time lapse photography would show many changes since the early seventies when the neighbourhood children tobogganed down the undulating bare hill between the towering pines toward the hidden pond where ducks and geese breed. In the original design, a koi fish pond ran under the front hall windowed walkway to visually and psychologically separate the outside world from the peace and seclusion of home.
- Gracious Living and Entertaining
The grand piano now rests where a sunken conversation pit snuggled beneath the trees in the corner of the living room. Trends have painted the interior brick and stained the exterior a light grey instead of silvered cedar. Who can say when change is an improvement or merely a personal preference? Still the bones are good, the lines regal and the home’s place in the embrace of the land is formidable. For the purist, signature Ron Thom elements like raw brick interior, quarry tile floors, and beech cabinets may be recaptured. For the visionary, or environmentally conscious, the house can move into the future with equal aplomb. Perhaps a garden roof, wind or solar energy. The house design and its situation on the large private acreage support many options.
No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other. Frank Lloyd Wright
When I read this quote I can understand why Thom was nicknamed ‘Frank Lloyd Thom’. He has articulated the living areas down the slope with the continued reference to nature. Each room has its own vantage and statement and with nine doorways, access to sun and breeze is always a step away. Thom has captured the sun or moon in the many skylights in their vector across the sky to create an interior play of light, shape, and dancing shadow.
- Light and Shadow
Interestingly, it was when I saw the proofs of the attached professional photos that I understood, intellectually, what my heart had known, instinctively, the first moment I set foot in the house. We had never considered ourselves modernists, or ones who purposely sought out architectural design. Instead we had lived in a century stone house, a rambling patchwork farmhouse, a log and granite home, as well as newly constructed urban condos.
This house has informed me on the deepest level that our surroundings do indeed lift us above worldly cares. We found this house when we went searching for a home in this community to raise our two sons. King City is the kind of town where the smiling faces in the kindergarten class picture are the same as in the high school grad photo. King’s Cross, itself, is an interesting mix of untouched seventies side splits and more recent modern or classical rebuilds on a scale consistent with the landscape. It is where families come and stay in some cases for decades. It is not a place of ostentation, but of pride of place. We were always drawn here over the years. Many come to walk or cycle or take a Sunday drive on the way to one of the local orchards In those months we had seen so many houses - grand and unremarkable – that we finally made a list of ‘wants’. We had a combined checklist for the four of us. For me it was nature and light and a place for art; my sons, a pool, music room, and billiard room, and for my husband, a safe haven for extended family gatherings and gracious entertaining around the piano.
I will never forget the first day we came to the big black oak doors which offered no hint of the exuberance of design that lay beyond. It was breathtaking. Not only did we find everything we then desired, but as the family grew, the rooms were redefined in purpose and the house continues to easily accommodate our changes. Unpretentious from the streetscape, the front door opens to an all glass corridor that immediately draws the eye out and over a serene view of towering pines and deciduous trees reaching into the distance. It is an experience relaxed and euphoric at the same time.
In seven years I have never tired of the morning view when the first pink rays of dawn pick out the distant tips of pine and fir, or the scarlet vines mingling in the deep green cedars in fall. When the foliage of summer is a memory and snow softens the landscape, twinkling lights through the trees remind us that we live in a community, though we feel in a bubble of quiet privacy. The boys have ‘camped’ on the floor in front of the window to watch the fury of a summer lightning storm. The closing of the pool is always left to the very last minute as its shimmering aquamarine light is the jewel in the courtyard. How many times I have swum, late in the season, warm in the water with the cool mist rising from the valley. Today, as I write, in early October, the Canada Geese are conducting training drill with the goslings to follow the immanent migration.
This home has spoiled me for travel to exotic hotels or spas. I live in the most beautiful house I have ever been in. I have been in grander places, but none so lovely. Why would it enter our minds to leave this beautiful and private estate? Because the two young boys who discovered the endless crawl spaces under the house on their first night here are on a trajectory to follow their dreams as young entrepreneurs and musicians. For me and my sweetie, distant lands beckon and a life of simplicity and mobility. It’s a time to fly lighter and further on the wings of creative pursuits. I have no doubt that the spirit of this house infusing every day with its artistic energy is the wind beneath those wings.
The ones who enter this home and are lifted as we were by its grace, will feel the same desire to become stewards to ensure its ongoing and respectful evolution. It is a work of art and desirable less for its pedigree than for its promise of inspired sanctuary.
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We too have a house designed by Ron Thom on the outskirts of King Township. I completely understand the comments by the owners in the article about the light, shadows and views bringing the outside in.
My gardens/landscaping are in need of a ‘renovation’. Do you have any sources or information regarding landscape design that would flow with Ron Thom architecture.
Many thanks
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn! Thanks for your note. It truly is a daily gift even on a rainy day like today. Every window has a different still life of natural beauty and elegance. I’m sure you enjoy the same.
I have been replacing some of the older trees that have completed their thirty year cycle. Awkward when they are in vantage points. In the raised bed along the window wall that is my office, we took out overgrown cedars (which I loved) that were growing up through the pergola. We needed a screen of sorts to soften the view right into the family room across a space and a step below. Two years ago we put in three large Japanese Maples. They are thriving in the cloistered space and are glorious in all seasons. As I write, tiny pink buds a bulging at the end of their ruby red branches.
I am going to pass your note along to my good friend and real estate agent, Brian Marshall. He specializes in significant architecture and has been in dozens of Ron Thom houses here and on the west coast. He has collected quite an amazing library of materials and photos. This will give you a very good starting point, I’m sure. I will also make some enquiries about landscape artists.
Regards,
Marilyn
You can reach me at 416 716 2678 if you wish.
Hi! I really enjoyed reading your piece on such a cool home!
I’m currently studying architecture and we have been given a research project. Guess who my architect is? Ron Thom :)
I thought that it would be worth it to ask if you have access to more info about the architect and more of his private home designs. Please let me know! Thanks :)
Hi Elaine,
Dave LeBlanc of the Globe & Mail did a wonderful article on our home in August 2008. He is a friend of Ron Thom’s son and features a Ron Thom residence yearly, I think.
I am copying this to a friend of mine who is quite an expert on Thom and hope he will respond with some information and sources for your research project.
The house sold in June of this year. The purchasers have been in touch with the original owner who commissioned the residence in the ’70s and are restoring it to its original design as much as possible. It will be something to behold!
Cheers!
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for your note. I hope Ron Thom will be an inspiration for your future designs!
Dave LeBlanc of the Globe & Mail did a wonderful article on our home in August 2008. He is a friend of Ron Thom’s son and features a Ron Thom residence yearly, I think.
I am copying this to a friend of mine who is quite an expert on Thom and hope he will respond with some information and sources for your research project.
The house sold in June of this year. The purchasers have been in touch with the original owner who commissioned the residence in the ’70s and are restoring it to its original design as much as possible. It will be something to behold!
Cheers!
Hey Elaine…
Marilyn forwarded your comment to me & I’d be happy to share what I have on Ron Thom residences/info with you… which includes a mess of images (mainly from west-coast builds). Please feel free to email me at: homeguide.ca@gmail.com if you wish to follow-up. Have a great day!
thank you for your replies! I’ll try to find the article from the Globe & Mail and I’ll be in touch with Brian soon!
Thanks! I really appreciate it :)
Great to hear that you are enjoying the home! The original home was designed by the Thom Partnership. I worked at the Thom Partnership and just after Ron passed away the home was sold to Ted and Marcia Matthews. They called the firm and came in to see us. I was assigned the job to complete an extensive renovation of the house. I started my own practice shortly after meeting the Matthews and they asked if I would take the project with me as Ron was no longer alive and they enjoyed working with me. The Thom Partnership agreed that I should complete the project and I agreed. Much of what you have enjoyed was the result of some significant renovations ad actually some interesting additions. Dermot J Sweeny Architects Inc. worked on numerous additions,alterations/refinishing etc over the years for the Matthews that became great friends of mine. I loved working with Ron for four years but must admit that your home now has the Ron Thom bones and a great deal of my work and the thoughtful requests of the Matthews. We were however influenced by Ron and the firm’s work…I do think we may still have drawings of the changes and the original house pre-alterations….Cheers
How great to get your note, Dermot! Thanks for taking the time. The house has been sold and the new owners are devotees of Ron Thom and true stewards of this beautiful place. Interestingly they are restoring the house to the original as much as possible – with their own stamp I am sure.
It’s a testament to the house and to the architect that, while each new owner is very much an individual (that’s why they are attracted in the first place), each has made changes in context with the spirit of the original vision.
As coincidence would have it, our first home in King was a century farm on Dufferin Street, (the little gothic style barn was the original Temperanceville church at the corner of Bathurst Street and King Road). One day, in town, I saw Marcia and recognized her as one of my sorority sisters from high school in the city. I thought I would see her again, which I never did, but discovered on the purchase of the house that they had owned it some eleven years before!
I stumbled across your article while googling my grandfather’s name “Ron Thom”. What a wonderful perspective on his design and how delifghtful to hear how loved and cherished his architectual creations are in peoples lives. Maybe one day I will travel Canada and experience some of his history first hand. In the meantime it brings me much joy to know his name is still held with high regard and respect and his buildings viewed as a true form of art.
Hi Simone,
Thanks for your note. I have sold the house and it went into the hands of a couple who I believe will be wonderful stewards of this remarkable house. They even went as far as to bring up the original owner who commissioned the home as they mean to restore the house back to its original design. So when you have the occasion to visit Canada you will hopefully have the opportunity to see a beautifully restored house – true to your grandfather’s vision.
Dave LeBlanc of the Globe and Mail, one of Toronto’s foremost newspapers, is a real fan of Ron Thom and good friends with his son and wife – your uncle? He might be a good one to contact as he features a Ron Thom design in his architectural section yearly. Here are his coordinates: dave.leblanc@globeandmail.com
Cheers!
Hi Marilyn,
Thanks for posting the great blog about the house. There are some really lovely Ron Thom homes here in West Vancouver. The Case Residence was on the market a year or so ago, and the Carmichael house is currently on the market and in danger of being demolished.
I’m so happy you’ve sold the house to someone who will care for it.
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