Expat Kiwi artist Anna Church has lived in Toronto with her husband Nick Dalton and their two children for eight years, and in this home for five. They recently completed a renovation that took it back to its 1834 bones and built it back up again, bigger and better.
Anna, do you think your interest in villas is informed by their strong association with New Zealand’s heritage architecture, especially in Auckland, where you used to live? Absolutely — although houses here tend to be multi-level, not single-storey. We were drawn to Toronto’s historic Riverside neighbourhood for its beautiful Victorian homes and tree-lined streets. When we found this house, she was tired and unpolished, but liveable. Best of all, her character features were pretty much still intact, unlike a lot of…
