I have been fortunate to have been involved in a local event here in Ottawa for the past few years. The Glebe is one of the most beautiful neighbourhoods in Ottawa and on Sept 21st, several of its residents are opening their homes to those who enjoy snooping in strangers homes! COUNT ME IN! (Details, where to get tickets etc. for the tour HERE) It is a lot of fun and my husband and I have had a blast each time we have participated in the tour (p.s. posts from previous tours here, here and here). This past weekend I was lucky to have had a personal tour of one of the homes included in this year’s tour. It is owned by Bob, an awesome guy who is a bachelor and recently retired and his home is one of the coolest I have ever seen on this tour (this one is for sure a must-see!). Bob had his house built about 10 years ago, and ever since I first drove by it some time ago I have been dying to get a peek inside.
And so my tour begins…. (I just want to apologize for the amount of photos in this post but I did not want you to miss anything).
Right from the front entrance there is exposed ductwork – Bob is a fan of industrial design elements as you will see throughout his home.
At the beginning of the tour Bob mentioned that most of the furniture in his home was not purchased – it is from friends, hand-me-downs, trash finds etc. His friends have pretty good taste. 🙂
Almost as soon as we walked in I spotted this massive plant hanging from the second floor. This man has a green thumb I tell ya! It was beautiful. Even my husband (who joined me as my assistant) was impressed.
Isn’t that window fantastic?! Bob acquired 2 of these windows from a friend and had them sand-blasted (they were covered in paint and rust). There is one in each of the bedrooms.
Bob has such a wonderfully eclectic collection of art throughout his home.
This cracked me up and I told Bob I had to get a photo. If you need alot of switches and thermostats and dohickeys you might as well have them all gang up in one spot.
These are Bob’s stairs. It turns out they were not built to the architect’s original design. They were supposed to have been made from wood but the supports are steel and this is the third set (the guy hired to build them might have had a hearing problem – LOL).
The railing is made from a key clamp system that Bob put together himself.
This is one end of the second floor – a cozy sitting room. Bob, the floral sofa doesn’t do the space justice. I can help you pick out a new one. 😉
I am telling you, I am so impressed at this man’s green thumb.
A walkway overlooking the first floor leads you from the sitting room to the guest bedroom and bathroom.
On the way up to the third floor that is a very large master suite. There is the second of those windows. *swoon*
At the top of the stairs is this stunning art installation made from porcelain tubes on wood.
At one end of the master suite is Bob’s office, and at the other is his bed, big soaker tub, and shower area.
Last but not least, every bachelor (or guy in general) needs a man cave for watching movies. In the basement is Bob’s media room, complete with 3D projector, surround sound and comfy sofa (he even had us check out the first few minutes of Life of Pi in 3D – incredible!!!).
In my next post you can check out Bob’s amazing outdoor spaces.
Marta says:
Love this! The house is cool and interesting – plus, it is nice to see the real living space of a real person, not one designed to be photographed.
I wish I could make it to the house tour…
Janis says:
So excited to do the tour this year, this house is definitely going on my list…….
so well designed and reflects the homeowners interests, bravo Bob!
suzanne says:
Thanks so much for featuring the House Tour on your blog Kim. WE love it that e get your attention and the attention of your faithful readers. Your photos are great. Look for a feature article and photo spread on this home in this Saturday's Citizen newspaper.
p.s. we teased him about the sofa too.
KiM says:
Thanks suzanne! (I would have teased him about the sofa but I was too busy taking photos)
Interioridea says:
wow!!! this house is amazing!