Owners: Joel Flewelling and Fred Connors, of FRED. beauty food art. and Whet Café
What would you do if you walked into a house in such terrible shape that your real estate agent won’t even venture inside? If you’re Fred Connors and Joel Flewelling, you bring it on.
When neighbour and community activist Susanna Fuller bought up seven north end houses to keep them from becoming condos, Connors went to look at the one which had been most neglected: ceilings and walls were falling in, windows and a toilet smashed, and “murder” was spray-painted across the front. Welcome home.
But after a second look the couple decided that the size and south-facing orientation of the backyard would be “incredibly conducive to producing food” for themselves and for their cafe. There would be space for a neighbourhood chicken co-op also (Connors is actively fighting the by-law). But that wasn’t the real seller: The small house is close to their salon/cafe, and they realized “There is tremendous value in living in a community among people you know you will care about,” says Connors.
It’s hard to imagine this is the same smelly space they started renovating last May. Almost the entire first floor—except for a small TV room built for two—is now a foodie’s dream kitchen, dominated by a 20-foot island, ideal for entertaining, food preparation and hosting community cooking classes. Although the furnishings are cool in their minimalism, there is warmth, thanks to a rich-looking but inexpensive construction beam, flowers and a cheeky canine painting by Michelle SaintOnge.
But this house isn’t just pretty on the outside. The heating system was converted to geothermal technology, “with the intention of following the guidelines for LEED certification without being LEED certified,” says Connors.
It’s a contemporary re-envisioning of a farmhouse kitchen in the middle of Halifax.
“When you walk into our home, you’re definitely walking into the heart of our home.”
This article appears in Apr 15-21, 2010.
This looks like a great project with a lot of really good intentions for community involvement. It’s really nice to see things like this happening in the city. The article has a spelling error however…which takes away a little from the credibility: It should be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)…”LEEDS” is a city in the UK.
Good catch. It is LEED, and it has been corrected.
As a long-time resident of Bloomfield Street I have mixed feelings about this “transformation”. Not too long ago the street was overrun with children and life very much happened outside for large part of the hood. There was a lot of standing around and chatting, a lot of sitting on steps, a lot of community. True, there were druggies, prostitutes and pimps, but the street seemed vibrant and breathing.
Now that the granola set has moved in with their 1.5 overprotected , over parented children, the atmosphere has drastically changed. Gone is the chaos of the old days, replaced by a sense of political correct uptightness and low lever urban activism. Who the fuck really cares about chicken? It’s a non-issue, one that reminds me of Marie Antoinette’s farm at Versailles: urbanites playing farmers. What a bore.
As for the house: I’m sorry, but from the outside at least it is a bit of an affront. As a provincial attempt at cutting edge architecture, one that does not fit into the hood, I can’t help but think that the owners are a bit attention seeking, a bit insecure. Why else would they fail to integrate the look of their house with the rest of the neighbourhood. Instead of sticking with the modest Edwardian style of the houses on the street, they turn their century old building into pseudo Bauhau- Ikea kitch. Not cool. Other around them chose to integrate their renovated houses into the neighbourhood. They, for whatever reason, did not.
Still, in the end I can’t really fault them too much . It is a lovely neighbourhood. I am also glad that Susan managed to secure the funds to buy up the whole block albeit temporarily. The alternative, namely more crap condos (see Almon and Ilseville), would have been a nightmare.
Frank Streicher (so you won’t get sued )
Farmhouse?
Looks nice but not practical for a kitchen.