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DeJong notes that more clients are looking for bungalows these
days, particularly mature families. “It’s a bit of a trend,” he says.
DeJong emphasizes that finding the perfect lot is the first step
to creating a dream home and the Flanagans landed an ideal corner
lot in the inner city. Corner lots come with their own set of chal-
lenges, however. “When you’re on a corner lot, you can be very
vulnerable to the street,” says DeJong. “You don’t want to be on
display all the time.”
To address this, DeJong incorporated clerestory windows to
allow an abundance of natural light without compromising privacy.
The strategically sized and placed windows also leave ample wall
space to exhibit the Flanagans’ contemporary Canadian art col-
lection, which includes several local artists. The powder room is
a work of art in and of itself, designed in collaboration with Tricia’s
brother Peter Gorman of Gorman Studios, a renowned decorative
arts studio in Vancouver. “It truly is a little jewel box,” says Tricia.
Clerestory windows
provide natural light
without sacrificing
privacy and leave
ample wall space
for the homeowners’
art collection.Chris Kuzmanovich, a Calgary artist and the interior designer
on the home, describes the Flanagans’ new house as a departure
in style from their previous residence, which was very traditional.
Even so, they were still able to use the living-room furniture from
the previous house. Kuzmanovich redressed two custom-built chairs
in a smoky, charcoal alligator-textured fabric and had a stout tradi-
tional armchair reupholstered in a funky, turquoise zigzag motif.
A blue rug ties everything together. “Chris is an amazing designer
who is fastidious about designing within budget and with exqui-
site taste,” Tricia says. “We couldn’t have completed this project
successfully without his guidance and talent.”
Kuzmanovich notes that Tricia loves the colour blue and he used
that as well as shades of grey throughout the home. “You can see
little bits of the same colour in different areas and that was done on
purpose for one room to relate to the next, but not have it be in-
your-face at the same time,” he says. “Nothing too matchy-matchy.”