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Blong House
Blong House
Toronto, Canada
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Other Projects by SOCA | Studio of Contemporary Architecture
Blong House
Toronto, Canada
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2022
SIZE
1000 sqft - 3000 sqft
BUDGET
$100K - 500K
Located within Toronto’s east end neighbourhood of Leslieville, Blong House is a late Victorian bay-and-gable reimagined and expanded to accommodate at-home work, stay-over guests, and a more defined sense of privacy for a young family. The design draws on the family’s day-to-day needs and aspirations, bringing these into conversation with the character of the wider neighbourhood. Expressed through a narrative-based approach to material and form, they come together to compose a joyful, meticulously crafted home environment that is an intimate expression of the clients’ sense of identity, place, and relationship with the surrounding context.
The house, constructed circa 1890, had seen successive renovations that left the interior with a jumbled layout and tone. As is typical with semi-detached Victorian homes, Blong House was challenged by an exceptionally narrow area, just 4.5 meters across. Within this slim footprint, SOCA’s careful rearrangement of the program opens up and expands the usable area while respecting the architectural character of the neighbouring home and residential community. By converting the uninhabited attic space and extending it with a rear dormer and walkout patio, SOCA maintained the brick facade and roof lines characteristic of the surrounding homes. Only the slick gable-cut window winks to the transformation within.
Inside, the formerly shared attic is transformed into a 37 square-meter primary bedroom and ensuite, defined from the neighbouring house by a sound-proofed party wall. An at-home-work nook presses into the roof’s slope to meet the gable window, framing verdant views across the street’s mature tree canopy, while a new skylight draws afternoon sun into the room.
On the second floor, the two children’s bedrooms bracket a central family room that doubles as a guest bedroom. The family/guest room’s new pocket doors invite an open passage of light while offering more comfortable movement through the Victorian home’s narrow hall. One of the children’s rooms features a built-in Baltic birch bunk bed; integrating a bookshelf and a playful porthole cutout, the bunk bed offers both a space of rest and worldmaking for the children and their guests.
The ground floor is opened up spatially, infusing the interior with natural sunlight while maintaining a functional distinction between the living area and kitchen. A new powder room serves as a buffer, linking a sequence of intimate spaces from front porch to rear garden. Located at the rear of the house, the kitchen articulates a dialogue between indoor and outdoor living. To make the most of the kitchen’s width, SOCA integrated a linear ‘service wall’ for the appliances and cabinetry; this soffit and wall millwork draws the tone of the wooded yard into the home, while extending out to serve as a prep area for barbecues. Grey limestone slab flooring grounds the kitchen, and provides a perfect backdrop for the interplay of light and shadow that projects through the tree canopy.
The home's material palette is a gesture of simplicity, light, and warmth. Oak is a traditional hardwood used in Ontario’s Victorian homes; Blong House is woven through with white oak elements, honouring this historic materiality while brightening the space. The oak-clad, angular cut staircase creates a distinct material stitch across storeys, drawing the kitchen’s millwork, oak flooring, and third-floor gable window workstation into a cohesive, airy whole. White walls, neatly punctuated by black aluminum for window frames, fixtures, and findings, offer an uncluttered backdrop to amplify the owners’ collection of Chilean art.
The house, constructed circa 1890, had seen successive renovations that left the interior with a jumbled layout and tone. As is typical with semi-detached Victorian homes, Blong House was challenged by an exceptionally narrow area, just 4.5 meters across. Within this slim footprint, SOCA’s careful rearrangement of the program opens up and expands the usable area while respecting the architectural character of the neighbouring home and residential community. By converting the uninhabited attic space and extending it with a rear dormer and walkout patio, SOCA maintained the brick facade and roof lines characteristic of the surrounding homes. Only the slick gable-cut window winks to the transformation within.
Inside, the formerly shared attic is transformed into a 37 square-meter primary bedroom and ensuite, defined from the neighbouring house by a sound-proofed party wall. An at-home-work nook presses into the roof’s slope to meet the gable window, framing verdant views across the street’s mature tree canopy, while a new skylight draws afternoon sun into the room.
On the second floor, the two children’s bedrooms bracket a central family room that doubles as a guest bedroom. The family/guest room’s new pocket doors invite an open passage of light while offering more comfortable movement through the Victorian home’s narrow hall. One of the children’s rooms features a built-in Baltic birch bunk bed; integrating a bookshelf and a playful porthole cutout, the bunk bed offers both a space of rest and worldmaking for the children and their guests.
The ground floor is opened up spatially, infusing the interior with natural sunlight while maintaining a functional distinction between the living area and kitchen. A new powder room serves as a buffer, linking a sequence of intimate spaces from front porch to rear garden. Located at the rear of the house, the kitchen articulates a dialogue between indoor and outdoor living. To make the most of the kitchen’s width, SOCA integrated a linear ‘service wall’ for the appliances and cabinetry; this soffit and wall millwork draws the tone of the wooded yard into the home, while extending out to serve as a prep area for barbecues. Grey limestone slab flooring grounds the kitchen, and provides a perfect backdrop for the interplay of light and shadow that projects through the tree canopy.
The home's material palette is a gesture of simplicity, light, and warmth. Oak is a traditional hardwood used in Ontario’s Victorian homes; Blong House is woven through with white oak elements, honouring this historic materiality while brightening the space. The oak-clad, angular cut staircase creates a distinct material stitch across storeys, drawing the kitchen’s millwork, oak flooring, and third-floor gable window workstation into a cohesive, airy whole. White walls, neatly punctuated by black aluminum for window frames, fixtures, and findings, offer an uncluttered backdrop to amplify the owners’ collection of Chilean art.
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