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De Grassi St.

Riverside

A historic Leslieville home taken to net zero, gutted, extended on two sides, and rebuilt to generate as much energy as it uses.

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Bringing a heritage home to net zero is one of the harder things you can ask a builder to do. Old houses were not built to be airtight, and every decision — insulation strategy, air sealing, window specification, mechanical selection — has to be made in service of a performance target that the original structure was never designed to meet.

This De Grassi Street home was taken back to the studs and rebuilt around that target. A side addition and a rear addition expanded the living space, a new detached garage was added at the rear, and the entire envelope was reconstructed for energy performance, with a solar array on the roof closing the gap. The result is a house that respects the streetscape of one of Toronto’s most characterful east-end neighbourhoods while performing like new construction.

Limor Mizrahi led the architecture, with interiors by Se7en Interiors.

What We Delivered

Scope of Work

Complete gut and restoration of a historic Leslieville home - Side addition and rear addition - New detached garage - Net-zero energy performance - High-performance building envelope and mechanical systems - Rooftop solar array

Architectural Specs

Energy Performance
Net-zero energy performance
Building Envelope
High-performance envelope with rooftop solar
Scope of Work
Side and rear additions
Garage
New detached garage
Square Footage
Bedrooms
Bathrooms
Year Completed
Project Story

The Challenge.

The challenge was never the addition — it was the arithmetic. Every assembly had to hit a performance number while working inside the constraints of a historic structure and a narrow east-end lot. Getting the envelope, the mechanicals and the solar to balance out to net zero on a house that started life more than a century ago took real coordination between the architect, the design team and every trade on site.

Luxury Begins With the Right Partner

The home you're imagining?
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