If houses could talk, the one at 43 Zina Street Orangeville would have a lot of stories to tell. Constructed in 1873, it was once a doctor’s office and home, and there were at least 29 registered owners who lived there at one time or another.
But the stories of previous decades pale in comparison to the real-life experiences of the present owners, Todd and Laurie Taylor.
After a massive, complex, disruptive, and costly two-year structural repair and renovation project, the couple have now comfortably settled back into the house which still maintains a link to its past.
“It would have actually made sense to knock the house down and build a new one in its place,” says Todd, in recounting the project’s numerous hurdles and the conditions they had to endure. “But we weren’t prepared to do that,” says Todd.
Not opting for the easier and less expensive route of demolition can probably be explained by the fact that the couple had an aversion to altering the streetscape of tree-lined Zina Street, which is one of Orangeville’s oldest streets and dotted with houses built in the same time era.
They also have strong roots in and an attachment to the Orangeville/Dufferin Country area. Todd is the town’s deputy mayor, as well as being sales director for Cambridge-based Dare Foods, while Laurie is a program assistant for Dufferin County. The couple moved to Orangeville’s west-end neighbourhood of Settler’s Creek in 2002 and were very active in that community.
“We really liked it there, but were ready for new changes as our children are getting older,” says Todd, referring to Morgan and Casey, who are now 23 and 18 respectively. “We also knew what we wanted,” says Todd, citing Zina Street’s large canopy of trees and why they purchased the house in October 2020, even though they were aware of some of the house’s defects right from the start.
“The house was in poor shape. The roof leaked, the basement leaked, and the toilets leaked.”
But the full extent of those problems would not become evident until much later in the renovation process. The first order of business was re-landscaping the rear yard including installing armourstone, and updating an existing swimming pool.
“We wanted to move in a rear yard to front yard orientation,” says Todd.
That landscaping had to be undertaken first, as the second planned stage was the construction of a garage with a second story self-contained apartment above. If the garage had been built first, it would have blocked off access to the rear yard, he explains.
After the landscaping was finished, the couple hired AC Custom Reno, an Orangeville-based firm owned by AJ Cappuccitti, to renovate the existing house and build a two-story addition with a garage/apartment, which was designed and built for Morgan.
The renovations included the removing of some interior walls and relocating the kitchen to a more central part of the house.
“She is old enough that she doesn’t want to live with her parents,” says Todd, explaining the apartment provides Morgan with her own space and she’s not faced with the high rents many young people are faced with.
However, as AJ and his workers were installing the framing for the garage, they discovered the roof on the main house was pushing down on the walls forcing them to “bow out.” The condition was exacerbated by the house’s “balloon framing” which was typical of the building style of its time. In balloon framing, the studs (or vertical members) extend the full height of the building from the foundation plate to rafter plate. (In modern platform style of construction, the studs are independent on each story.)
Other structural problems were also uncovered including a beam that wasn’t supporting the main floor.
“We couldn’t have foreseen all these problems. It was a truly awful time. We didn’t know what to do, sell or knock the house down,” says Todd, in recounting the emotional strain they were under, the additional costs they were facing, and the agonizing choices confronting them.
After more than a few meetings with AJ, the couple ultimately endorsed a top-to-bottom gutting of the house. That course of action required them to move out of the house entirely in March 2022. By August of that year, they were able move back into the second-floor addition, while storing all their belongings in the new two-car garage.
In early September they were able to take possession of the entire house, although drywall and plumbing installation and other interior work continued. Then, there was the interior design work which was conducted according to recommendations proposed by interior designer, Kasia Cappuccitti, owner of KC Custom Interiors.
“She gave us advice on the cabinets, furnishings, lighting, and the floor tiles,” says Laurie.
Of course, Laurie did a lot of her own decorating including the painting, as well as framing 1936 and 1938 editions of the Toronto Daily Star which were uncovered during the project. They were originally used as wall insulation.
“AJ has been great,” says Todd, who also gives full credit to Laurie for her resolve during the project’s dark, trying times “We were a mutual support system. When I was down, she would pick me up and vice versa.”
Although AC Custom Reno’s scope of work officially ended in October 2022, other work by other contractors was undertaken including exterior front yard landscaping and the creation of a new driveway by Whispering Pines Landscaping. Using the bricks from a dismantled chimney, a stone mason bricked the garage, the pillars on the porch, and the west side of the house – where there had been a garage at one time – to create a seamless integrated appearance with the rest of the house, says Todd.
Noting that all the aspects of the project were approved by the Town of Orangeville, Todd says that working in partnership with AC Custom Reno, they have now created a safe and sturdy house.
“When it comes time for us to move on in life, we will be very comfortable selling to new owners.”
WRITTEN BY: DAN O’REILLY | PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDI SOLOWKA
RESOURCES: AC CUSTOM RENO
