City Homes
A Landscape Designer And His Wife Build Their Dream Home In Oakville, Ont.
Updated on November 17, 2023
This newly built minimalist house belonging to George and Marta Coito makes an epic statement. From the front door, the sight line goes beyond the physical reaches of the interiors straight to the backyard’s green vista. There, a sensational pool — with a perimeter negative edge that’s flush with the patio — reads like glass. Yews, wispy Japanese forest grass and a sculptural Norway spruce meander around the pool, pavilion and outdoor kitchen. Oh, and the entire view is filtered through a two-storey-tall European beech tree that grows in the home’s courtyard.
Is it any surprise that George Coito is a prominent landscape designer? “We work on some of the most exquisite properties in Toronto,” says George, president of Coivic Contracting and principal of Bosque Landscape Architecture alongside co-founder Tina McMullen. “This house has been the culmination of years of working with the best builders, landscape designers and architects in the city.
They bought a property with an existing side-split house. Owned by the same family since the 1960s, it sat on a generous 100- by 160-foot lot, but it had a quirk. “The neighboring house directly behind was 10 to 12 feet higher than street level, so our driveway ramped up quite high,” says George. This made it perfect for creating an underground garage, which became a key design feature. The garage was placed underneath the backyard and courtyard so that it didn’t eat up too much space for the house itself. As for the original side-split, it was razed.
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George had been waiting to build his own home for a long time. After the couple’s university-aged daughter and son moved into their own places, George and Marta (pictured with their Ganaraskan dog Leo) were finally ready to build their dream house. For 20 years, the family had lived in a house not too far from the site of the new one. “Our former home had been renovated in stages and was awesome,” says George, but the couple wanted something special, a house that was primed for entertaining for their next chapter. “Marta gave me a 10-block radius for where we could move — so we were looking for a long time, ” jokes George.
For the 18-month-long project, the couple turned to Vanessa Fong, principal of VFA Architecture + Design. “We immediately loved Vanessa’s personality and design aesthetic,” says George. “I’m probably a pain-in-the-butt client because I’m involved in every little detail.” Diego Burdi of Burdifilek was brought in for the decorating and furniture selections.
Because she was designing a two-level, almost 5,000- square-foot house for someone in the business, Vanessa knew it had to be perfect. “He does amazing work,” says Vanessa. “For this home, he wanted a good flow between the interior and exterior.” George and Marta loved Vanessa’s design. The family room, study, kitchen, and living and dining rooms would be on the main floor, with four bedrooms upstairs.
Minimalist yet magnetic, the residence has a robust mix of features. A vertical walnut wood slat wall runs the length of the main-level hallway, adding earthy richness and eye-catching detail. Concrete-look porcelain slab and white oak make up the flooring. Other standout elements include a curving Corian staircase that looks like one continuous piece of stone and a seamless black kitchen.
In the kitchen, textured wood panels add warmth to the black cabinets, and appliances are concealed behind millwork. “When we entertain, we do lots of charcuterie boards that we put on the big centre island,” says George. “This whole space — the kitchen, and living and dining room — was all designed for entertaining.”
“There are a lot of windows; we maximized the allowable glazing,” says George. “Every room has a view into the garden or of greenery. The idea is that the courtyard pushes through and into the space, becoming a room that buffers the clean, quiet areas and more social spaces,” says Vanessa. “I thought that was brilliant,” adds George. “I wanted the interior of the house and the backyard to have a seamless connection, so there are massive lift-and-slide doors that open up as well.”
A statement-making courtyard next to the dining area brings the outdoors in. The tree lives in a planter because part of the underground garage is directly below.
The oak tambour wall cladding adds dimension in the principal bedroom.
The principal ensuite has warmth, thanks to earthy materials like the wood dresser, a wall of Valentino marble and the linear fireplace.
In warm weather, the Coitos host friends and family, carting charcuterie boards to the yard for alfresco feasts. An ingenious layout sees the principal suite on the second floor cantilevering over the outdoor kitchen to provide shelter from the elements, if needed. “Because the second floor is larger than the main level, it gives the illusion that the house is larger than it is,” says Vanessa.
“The pool’s dark bottom has a reflective effect. It has a perimeter negative edge, where the water level comes up to the same level as the patio,” says George. “I love looking at it.
Every vantage point is special in this magnificent house, which perfectly blends indoor and outdoor living. “That connection is part of our design ethos,” says Vanessa. “It’s about human health and wellness, and how a building can make you feel both physically and psychologically connected to the landscape.”
There are zones for cooking, dining and lounging in the outdoor entertaining area, which boasts multiple grills and a pizza oven. When there’s a sporting event on, George has the boys over to watch games on the TV that folds down from the ceiling. “My background is Portuguese and my wife is Ukrainian; we’re very social, and we love to cook,” says George. “We entertain often and have dinner parties inside and outside, hence the charcoal, gas and Argentinean grills, and the pizza oven.”
Precast concrete and stonework feature strongly in the landscape design. A mix of Japanese maples and boxwoods soften the hard lines. “To make a gradual crescendo up to the front door, we designed very wide steps,” says George.
Younes Bouhnar, Amanda Large, Alex Lukey
Architecture and Interior Design by Vanessa Fong
Landscape Design by George Coito