"The bones were good," says Bombay. "I could see the potential in it."
Bombay, who has a real knack for renovating and restoring character homes, managed to work her magic on the house at 359 Ash St. Other than the actual shell of the house, Bombay re-did absolutely everything and the results are spectacular.
The house was built in 1928, and Bombay was set on keeping with the style of the older house. She even went so far as to research the type and architecture of the house to ensure that it was restored to its original flavour. When she discovered it was a Dutch Colonial-style house, she sought out old hardware and even re-did the knobs and hinges with hardware fitting the original character of the home.
"You have to be true to the house -- respect its origins," says Bombay. "It's important to keep with the style of the house."
All of the exterior walls were taken down to the studs, re-insulated and then drywalled. But while the walls were upgraded and modernized, the fine details were carefully restored. Bombay painstakingly kept the original baseboards and trim to maintain the home's character. Each baseboard was removed, stripped, scraped and restored to its original wood.
"It's just the little details that make everything," she says.
It's no wonder the house set a sales record when it was recently sold. Listed at $279,900, the house garnered a lot of attention when it came to showings. Eight offers later, it sold for $340,000 -- $21,000 more than the previous record for a house of comparable size in River Heights. Bombay's handiwork set another record back in 2005 when she sold a smaller home on Lanark Street that she had completed renovated.
Bombay's imagination and creativity are evident throughout the renovation. The kitchen looks deceptively like an old kitchen, yet it is all brand new. A new apron front sink is the centerpiece and is reminiscent of homes of yesteryear. To keep with the style of the house, a reproduction tin backsplash was added.
The main floor also features a beautiful living room, dining room and sunroom. In the living room, Bombay had to point out that she had added the small piano windows on either side of the fireplace. The windows were designed so well to blend in with the rest of the room, you'd never know that they weren't an original feature of the house.
The sunroom was turned into an office complete with a huge window seat with drawers underneath that conceal filing cabinets. The sunroom is surrounded by large wooden built-ins that also conceal the computer, files and other office paraphernalia, making it as much of a nice sitting room as a functional office space. There's even a small electric fireplace built into one of the bookcases.
"I like the conveniences of modern living, but I don't like to look at it," Bombay explains.
Upstairs, the home's bathroom has the same old character feel with all of the modern conveniences. If you've ever been in a Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn store, imagine stepping into the bathroom department and you've got Bombay's beautiful bathroom.
She had saved some old glass accent windows from her previous house and had the bathroom cabinets designed around that glass. Beadboarding was added to the walls to emphasize the old character and charm of the house. And opening up a wall in the bathroom allowed enough room for a double vanity, separate shower and sunken jetted tub.
The master bedroom had what most older-home owners regularly complain about -- a lack of closet space. Blessed with a small inlet in the corner of the room, Bombay framed in the space to enlarge the closet. She bought new French doors at Rona, but installed them using old hardware. Sheers were used to conceal the clothing inside and the result is a brand new closet that looks like it was built with the rest of the house in 1928.
Throughout her renovations, Bombay strived to ensure that the changes were not only aesthetically pleasing, but environmentally green and energy efficient. The original radiators were removed and replaced with a high efficiency furnace as well as central air conditioning. The attic was re-fit with R-50 insulation and extra insulation was added throughout. Even the paint Bombay used had a slight R-value to add to the energy efficiency.
The old knob and tube wiring was removed and the electrical work was re-done with the addition of a new 200-amp panel. All of the windows and doors in the house were replaced as well as all of the appliances. Bombay purchased energy-efficient appliances and chose fixtures such as a low-flow toilet and an air-jet, energy-efficient jetted tub to save on water use.
All combined, she says the changes have had a big impact on her utility bills. While the costs are all up front, Bombay says you recoup them in the long run.
"Every year, my budget amount has gone down," she points out. "In the end, it's better for everyone -- you and the environment."
The beauty of the house is that it combines the old character and charm of a 90-year-old home with modern conveniences and today's much sought-after environmental elements.
"Just because you do it the energy-efficient or green way, you don't have to sacrifice style or esthetic," says Bombay.
