The home?s art moderne features were carefully restored, including the smooth exterior finish, cobalt blue
window frames, and stylized door surround.
PROJECT The Hambly House, Hamilton, Ontario
ARCHITECTS DPAI Architecture Inc. with Toms + McNally Design
TEXT Magdalena Milosz
PHOTOS Revelateur Studio
Nestled amongst the 1920s homes of Westdale, a leafy neighbourhood in Hamilton, Ontario, is an outlier with a storied past. Hambly House, whose sweeping white form rounds a street corner not far from the Cootes Paradise wetland, seems to sail past the half-timbering, faux-stone cladding, and steeply pitched roofs of its neighbours. The streamline moderne gem, a rare example of the style in Ontario, was built in 1939 by local architect Edward Glass and named for its first owner, Jack Hambly. It recently received a thoughtful second-storey and rear addition by Hamilton firms DPAI and Toms + McNally Design. Owners Tina Fetner and Lane Dunlop purchased the home in the summer of 2013. It had previously undergone some restoration efforts (it was listed in Hamilton?s Cultural Heritage Register in 2011), but had since deteriorated due to lack of maintenance after the previous owner moved overseas. The renovation therefore included significant repair work, such as replacing the original stucco cladding with synthetic EIFS, a material that DPAI architect David Premi, MRAIC, says was actually appropriate in this context.
The home?s original partitions were removed to open up the kitchen a...