Rock out at the Ottawa Rock Lottery. Courtesy of The Indefinite Project.

OTTAWA ROCK LOTTERY
What other event tells you straight up that it might be terrible? Ottawa Rock Lottery takes 25 local musicians, matches them up at random, and gives them 24 hours to create a completely original set. Each new band will also have the added challenge of incorporating a randomly assigned instrument into their set. The result might be awful, but considering the talent they’ve got lined up this year — like musicians from The Love Machine and The PepTides — it’s not likely. A performance by Rockalily Burlesque and a “rock and roll photo booth” round out the night. Saturday, May 19, 8 p.m. $10 or  $9 with a food donation. Mavericks Bar, 221 Rideau St., www.ottawarocklottery.com.

MUSICFEST (FREE!)
North America’s largest festival dedicated to developing musical talent is celebrating its 40^th anniversary this year. More than 10,000 of the country’s most skilled young musicians will meet in the capital to compete for recognition in this national showcase. Adjudicated performances from May 14 to 19 are open to the public, free of charge. Various dates, times, and locations, www.musicfest.ca.

SHEEP-SHEARING WEEKEND
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep! Bring your kids to help her find them, watch a sheep-shearing demonstration, check out the sheepdog agility obstacle course, and make crafts this weekend at the Canada Agriculture Museum. Saturday, May 19, to Monday, May 21, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. $9, seniors and students $7, children three to 12 $6, children two and under free. Canada Agriculture Museum, Experimental Farm, Prince of Wales Dr., www.agriculture.technomuses.ca.

PUNK OTTAWA FLEA MARKET
Anyone with pink hair, stretched ears, or an appreciation of local culture should take note. Dozens of vendors selling new and used records, clothing, artwork, and more, gather twice a year for Punk Ottawa flea markets. This year’s spring display will include local merchants Gypsy & Co., Shameless Fashions, and Housewife Vintage. Saturday, May 19, 11 a.m. Admission by donation, with proceeds supporting punkottawa.com and local animal welfare charities. Mac Hall, Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Ave., www.facebook.com/events.

The Ottawa Fat Cats take on the first home game of the season. Photo credit Michael Gauthier/Freedom Photography.

FAT CATS’ HOME OPENER
This Saturday is the Ottawa Fat Cats’ first home game of the season. Head on over to the Ottawa Stadium to cheer on the team — and enjoy some sunshine and street meat — as they face off against the Kitchener Panthers. The Fat Cats will be looking to bounce back after their final round exit last season against the Brantford Red Sox. Saturday, May 19, 7 p.m. $12, seniors and students $8, children $6. Ottawa Stadium, 300 Coventry Rd., www.ottawafatcats.com.

FAIRFIELDS VICTORIA DAY JUBILEE TEA
Queen Victoria’s birthday is coming up, and what better way to celebrate than with a proper tea party in the country? The Nepean Museum is hosting a traditional Victorian tea on the grounds of Fairfields, which was once the Bell family homestead and is now a designated heritage property. Tours, music, refreshments, and period games for the kids will all be available. Sunday, May 20, 1 p.m. Admission by donation. Nepean Museum, 3080 Richmond Rd., www.nepeanmuseum.ca.

TYLER HILTON
Still grieving the finale of One Tree Hill? Lucky for you, OTH heartthrob and pop-rock musician Tyler Hilton has added a second Ottawa date to his tour (the first sold out in a day!). Opening for Hilton will be special guest Dion Roy. Sunday, May 20, 8 p.m. $12. Mavericks Bar, 221 Rideau St., www.tylerhiltonofficial.ning.com.

VICTORIA DAY FESTIVAL (FREE!)
Oooh, aaah! Fireworks on Monday evening will wrap up the ten-day Victoria Day celebration at Juliana Park.  Bring the kids down during the day for midway rides, buskers, games, and a petting zoo. On until Monday, May 21. Juliana Park, Carling Avenue at Preston Street, www.victoriadayfestival.com.

You’ve gotta hand it to the folks at Jak’s Kitchen. They are making lemonade out of lemons. When a construction crew began tearing up Bronson Avenue several weeks ago, owners John Armstrong and Kim Hill (John And Kim = JAK) discovered their restaurant was going to be in a cloud of demolition, dust, and detours until September. The news got even worse: their beloved outdoor patio is out of commission.

In spite of being stuck in a construction zone, the 26-seat restaurant remains open for business inside as usual — serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. But rather than standing by helplessly and watching the number of customers dwindle due to the mess, Armstrong and Hill came up with a plan to launch a new take-out business called: Jak In A Box!

The idea is to give customers access to Jak’s regular menu, but to pack everything up in cute recyclable to-go containers — perfect for taking home (or to the office or off on a picnic).

One of the great little quirks about Jak’s Kitchen is that they serve breakfast until 3 p.m. They are perhaps best-known for their creative breakfast sandwiches, dubbed Kitchen Macs, which happen to be ideal take-out food. Think of it as a gourmet Egg McMuffin. Jak’s Macs feature fresh and mostly local ingredients like house-cured peameal bacon, Bekings Poultry Farm eggs, and Mariposa Farms’ selection of cheeses. The key is that they are served on hearty homemade breads — rye, sourdough, molasses-oat and, my favourite, buttermilk biscuits. These baked goods can also be ordered by the loaf or the batch for take-out as well.

Jak In A Box @ Jak’s Kitchen

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to close.

Jak’s Kitchen, 479 Bronson Ave., 613-230-2088

Please note: You can still reach Jak’s Kitchen off of Gladstone Avenue, turning left on Percy Street and then left again on McLeod Street. The parking lot across the street from the restaurant remains accessible.

By Paul Gessell

A self-portrait featured in "Van Gogh: Brush with Genius." ©Camera Lucida.

Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings will not just be at the National Gallery of Canada this summer but, in a manner of speaking, also taking a starring role at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

The IMAX Theatre at Civilization will be showing the 39-minute film Van Gogh: Brush With Genius from May 18 until Sept. 3, corresponding to the National Gallery exhibition Van Gogh: Up Close running from May 25 to Sept. 3. The film is directed by Peter Knapp and Francois Bertrand in partnership with four major European museums with Van Gogh works.

Civilization had a test screening of the Van Gogh film a few years ago to see gauge audience reaction. The response was evidently positive enough to encourage the museum to show the film this summer in conjunction with the National Gallery exhibition.

With an actor providing Van Gogh’s voice, the artist describes his last years of painting in France. We see the actual fields, roads, and buildings that Van Gogh visited and painted.

But the most breathtaking aspect of the film is the way we see many of Van Gogh’s paintings in extreme close-up. The paintings become almost like 3D sculptures. Van Gogh slathered paint on his canvases in thick streaks. The IMAX experience gives you the feeling of actually entering the paintings and exploring the hills and valleys of his brushstrokes.

A church featured in the film that is represented in one of Van Gogh's paintings. ©Camera Lucida.

Van Gogh was born March 30, 1853 in Groot-Zundert in the Netherlands and died July 29, 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, France following complications from a gunshot wound. For more than a century, the prevailing view was that Van Gogh shot himself, but a new biography by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith published last year forwards the theory that Van Gogh was shot by some neighbourhood toughs even though the artist said he pulled the trigger.

Many mysteries remain about Van Gogh. There is the incident in which he sliced off part of his ear. There are many different theories on that. And then there is his supposed mental illness, resulting in a few long-term stays in asylums. Was he really crazy? And how did all these factors affect his art? Opinions are divided.

The IMAX film touches on some of these topics, as does the National Gallery exhibition. But don’t expect concrete answers to the many enduring Van Gogh questions.

“In less than a century I became a myth when all I wanted was to become a painter,” says the actor portraying Van Gogh in the film.

For many Van Gogh fans, the myth is as alluring as the paintings.

For information on the film, visit www.civilization.ca/imax. For information on the National Gallery exhibition, visit www.gallery.ca/vangogh.

Mikaza's showroom in Hull (pictured) offers the space to see everything that's in store -- but the new store on Bank is a good place to start dreaming the modern dream. Photography by Marc Fowler / Metropolis Studio

Shop Talk is written by OM senior editor Dayanti Karunaratne and Sarah Fischer, OM account executive and fashion maven.

Attention all who love modern furniture: Mikaza is opening a second, smaller store in Old Ottawa South. The new shop will show a sampling of what’s available through Mikaza, such as reclaimed wood furnishings from 2 Loons and Divani sofas, as well as offer eye candy to those strolling the tony Bank Street ‘hood.

The move marks a homecoming of sorts for Mikaza. Mihran and Katia Zaroukin first set up shop in Old Ottawa South in 2008, and have since become a source for stylish furniture. They moved across the river in 2010, where a larger space allows shoppers to see the full range of products.

But for those just starting to dream the modern dream, next time you’re in Old Ottawa South take a stroll through the new shop and see what strikes your fancy. Remember, it’s just a sampling of what’s available, but the staff are quite enthusiastic about it all — they just might lure you out to Hull.

The Look: Sleek, industrial, chic, peaceful … and at a price that might surprise.

Perfect for: Nesting in style, impressing the guests.

USP: Planning a Mad Men party? A photo shoot? Dip your toes in modern style with the help of Mikaza’s rental operation. Chairs and other furnishings are available; see Prestige Rental for more details. (Or, if you make it into the VIP lounge for the Ottawa Jazz Festival, you can try out the goods for yourself.)

Mikaza, 120 du Portage (Hull sector of Gatineau), and 1101 Bank St., 819-205-3122, www.mikazahome.com.

Get the scoop on over 435 local stores in the 2011/2012 Ottawa Magazine Shopping Guide. Access the Guide online or get your copy at Britton’s and other newstand locations.

A selection of Seed to Sausage salumi served at the launch of the Great Canadian Cheese Festival

Cured meats, as we all know, are making a comeback. And while I have enjoyed many of the new porky products appearing in deli counters and on charcuterie boards around town, I do find it can get a little confusing. The terminology alone is tough to tackle: is charcuterie the same as salumi? Is salumi the same as salame? What’s the difference between copa and capicola? Smoked, cured, cooked, dried, aged, nitrates, and nitrites — there is so much to know.

Luckily we have an expert, educator, and true Salumist among us! Ottawa-raised Michael McKenzie of Seed to Sausage has emerged from his military career as the region’s Pied Piper of Pork (and lamb and beef). It seems whatever he makes at his salumeria in Sharbot Lake, 130 km west of Ottawa, a trail of chefs and foodies follow behind holding baskets of crostini and jars of artisanal mustard.

Before launching his own artisan sausage company, McKenzie fell under the spell of salumi during regular pilgrimages to the Seattle shop owned by Armandino Batali — father of the celebrity chef and King of Orange Clogs himself, Mario Batali. “I tried a lot and I knew what I liked,” he says. When he arrived in Kingston and was unable to find hand-made sopressata, lonzino, or bresaola, McKenzie began producing cured meats in his garage. It wasn’t long before some savvy chefs sniffed him out.

“It was an underground meat train,” he tells me over a plate of his saucisson sec and chorizo accompanied by a glass of cool sparkling rosé at Play Food & Wine.

Two years ago, he wrote a business plan, hired a butcher and two chefs, and launched Seed to Sausage. McKenzie says Steve Beckta was one of the first restaurateurs to contact him about serving the local products at both Play and Beckta. With such endorsement from one of the biggest names in the business, word rapidly spread and Seed to Sausage products are now available in 35 restaurants and specialty shops in Ottawa, Kingston, Perth, and Toronto.

Now McKenzie is inviting the public to Sharbot Lake to have all of their salumi questions answered. To further entice foodies to come and celebrate the opening of his retail shop, he’s got a lineup of great food, beer, wine, and live music. He’s also tying the event to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day since it is in line with the mandate to “inspire, educate, and empower people everywhere to stand up for real food.”

Will Seed to Sausage attract the kind of dedicated cult following that has made The Whalesbone Oysterfest and Beau’s Oktoberfest such amazing success stories? Who knows — maybe next year he’ll market the anniversary as Salumifest?

THE DETAILS: 

What: Seed to Sausage retail store Grand Opening party

Where: 12821 Highway 38 in Sharbot Lake

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Food Highlights: Cost $5 – $10 per plate ($2/oyster); The Whalesbone oysters; Strata Pizza wood-fired pizzas; Steve George of Olivea will prepare whole roasted lamb; chef Kyle Christopherson of Brookstreet Hotel’s Perspectives Restaurant will man the chip truck; Montreal’s St. Amboise microbrewery and PEC’s Sandbanks Winery will also be there.

Do You Want Some Cheese With That?

The new goat Gouda being produced by Clarmell on the Rideau, one of at least 36 artisan cheese makers signed up for the festival

If you can’t make it out to Sharbot Lake this weekend, you can still catch McKenzie in person a couple of weeks later at the Great Canadian Cheese Festival in Picton, Ontario (Prince Edward County). It’s the largest exhibition of Canadian artisan cheese ever — more than 125 different cheeses will be on display. Now in its second year, the young festival now boasts a Food Court. Apparently last year people complained they wanted something to eat after all that nibbling and sampling. So visitors will be able to fill up on grilled cheese sandwiches (what else?) from Toronto’s Cheesewerks. The County’s beloved Buddha Dog will also be there with their gourmet wieners and the 4-H Club will be making milkshakes  made with milk from the local cows.

THE DETAILS:

When: June 1-3, 2012

Where: The Crystal Palace in Picton Ontario, Prince Edward County

Tickets: Advance tickets are $35 available online at www.CheeseFestival.ca. (Tickets sold at the door are $40, if available.). Youth and child tickets for the Cheese Fair are available, without the glass and cooler bag. All other festival events are age of majority only.

Bystanders No More
There’s an upsurge in civic engagement activities, and it couldn’t come at a better time   BY FATEEMA SAYANI

Illustration by Anthony Tremmaglia

Before the merger: When the bowl of bibimbap arrives, you are meant to lunge in there with chopsticks and beat everything together lickety split or, cautions Anne DesBrisay, the staff will do it for you.

By Anne DesBrisay

Gifts in little white bowls from Le Kim Chi’s kitchen arrive first. These are not meant to be treated as an amuse bouche. You are to meant to be patient. My dining buddy had to be whacked when he began to scarf down the marinated potatoes, the sesame doused bean sprouts, the fermented, spicy cabbage called kimchi. “Wait,” I hissed. “These go with what’s coming.”

What was coming came a few minutes later: sizzling dolsot (stone pot) bibimbap, about which he was a greenhorn. If you don’t know Korea’s famous dish called bibimbap, you need to be initiated, and Le Kim Chi seemed a good beginning.

Bibimbap is that petal-like arrangement of sautéed vegetables, beef, crackling nori, and wiggly egg on rice, the raw yolk glistening at the head, the whole dotted with toasted sesame seeds. Stop too long to admire the still life at your peril: you are meant to just plunge in there with chopsticks and beat everything together lickety split, or the staff will do it for you. This I have learned.

But you have other options. You can reach way down to detach the rice still cooking on the bottom of the hot pot, or leave some of it still stuck, still sizzling, to savour later, when it’s bronzed and crunchy with a nutty flavour. You can customize as you wish from the little gifts of pickled vegetables – they change all the time, but always there is spicy kimchi. You can slather on the gochujang (hot pepper sauce) or just dob it on. Or leave it off altogether. No one will judge you. The raw egg cooks in the heat of its companions, and keeps the whole — veg and meat and the sweet pungency of sesame oil that weaves through it all — on the moist side. It makes a filling, flavourful lunch for $12.95, and at Le Kim Chi, it comes with miso soup.

Cost: lunch specials at Le Kim Chi are all $12.95

Open: for lunch, Monday to Friday, dinner daily

Le Kim Chi, 420 Preston St., 613-233-2433.

On April 25, Canadian politics and literature joined forces for the annual Politics and the Pen gala. Held at the Fairmont Château Laurier, the event brought together politicians, writers, diplomats, leaders from the arts and business communities, and other notable names to celebrate with food, drink, entertainment and — of course — memorable conversation. The night also included a presentation of the $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing to Richard Gwyn for his biography Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times; Volume Two: 1867-1891. Here’s a look at the who’s who from the night (guests walked away with copies of Ottawa Magazine in their goodie bags). For an insider’s perspective on the evening, check out the post on Ottawa Magazine’s Politics Chatter blog, where Mark Bourrie blogged about the event in a post entitled “Dishing on last night’s Politics and the Pen dinner. Hint: Barbara Amiel rocked it.” Photography by Jake Wright and Steven Gerecke.

By Emma Paling

Writer and journalist Linda Kay was the first female sports reporter at the Chicago Tribune.

Linda Kay is the author of The Sweet Sixteen: The Journey that Inspired the Canadian Women’s Press Club. Her book recounts how a single train ride in 1904 ended with the creation of a club that would go on to count Nellie McClung and Lucy Maud Montgomery among its members. A young Ottawa reporter, Margaret Graham, asked a CP publicist for the same press pass her male colleagues were given to attend the St. Louis World Fair. He said if she could find 12 accredited female writers, he’d escort them to St. Louis himself. Well, she found 15. He named them the “Sweet Sixteen,” despite the fact that these were tough, tenacious women, working as journalists at a time when they weren’t even legally recognized as people.

Kay herself was the first female sports reporter at the Chicago Tribune, and is now chair of Concordia University’s journalism department. The Sweet Sixteen book launch will be held this Saturday at the Media Club of Ottawa, an offshoot of the Canadian Women’s Press Club.

What inspired the book?
I thought I was pretty cool as the first female sports writer at the Chicago Tribune, but when I became a teacher I started looking into journalists of the past, and realized there was a female sports writer at the Globe and Mail in 1933. I started doing research on female journalists in Canada and found out that the first one became a full employee in 1886. I didn’t know about this; my peers didn’t know about this.

What’s the connection to Ottawa?
Shortly after the [Canadian Women’s Press Club’s] founding, 17 different branches spread across the country. The Media Club of Ottawa is the only remnant of the club that’s left. It is not an exclusive women’s club anymore though; it accepts men. The irony is that when women like myself came into the industry in the ’70s and ‘80s, they didn’t want to belong to a women’s-only club. Nevertheless, [the Media Club of Ottawa] still tie themselves to the original club and are the only branch left.

Why was the formation of the Canadian Women’s Press Club revolutionary?
The fact that it was a professional women’s business club. They laid down a constitution that they would be supportive of each other, because at that time there were no journalism schools, and men were very unfriendly to them in the workplace. Women were put in separate newsrooms until the ‘60s and ‘70s. One paper called the women’s area, “the cage.” Women were not treated or paid like the other staff. They were segregated.

"The Sweet Sixteen" delves into the role a group of tenacious female reporters played in Canadian history.

Why is it important for Canadians to hear this story today?
We have to know where we came from. I had been thinking I had reinvented the wheel! It was very humbling to realize that it didn’t happen yesterday, it happened so long ago. It’s especially important for women, as we are erased from history much of the time. There is scant material on these women. They are being rediscovered little by little, but nothing had been done on this trip and exactly what happened when they got back and started the club.

As someone who dealt with gender barriers in journalism yourself, how is the story significant to you personally?
I had a sense of pride in these women and wanted to tell their stories. I can only imagine what they had to go through, given that in the ‘80s I had to surmount obstacles. I was ostracized in some cases. It’s kind of a double-edged sword because you’re the only woman, so you have a forum, but it can also be lonely.

Why did you decide to use biographies of the “Sweet Sixteen” women as the book’s epilogue?
It was fascinating to see how each of these women went their different ways after the trip. Each deserves a book of her own, really. A lot of them achieved great things after the trip. Margaret Graham, the instigator of the trip, dropped out of journalism completely and didn’t continue with the club. She got married a few years after, so was it because of societal pressure? All these things I speculate on. Also to give them the credit they deserve. To just focus on that one year would be to give short shrift to their lives and the club.

What was the most surprising thing you discovered in your research?
Some of these women were really fabulous writers, and that surprised me. They were clever, they were funny, they were witty, and they had to produce so much copy each week. They wanted to be seen as literary figures. Another thing was how avant-garde they were. These were women way ahead of their time. Some of them were divorced or separated at a time when this was scandalous. Some didn’t marry. Some had love affairs. It was in total opposition to the image I had of women at that time. At times it was in opposition to what they were writing, because their audience was homemakers and single women who aspired to get married and become homemakers.

The Sweet Sixteen is available through the McGill-Queen’s University Press website, www.mqup.mcgill.ca, and on www.amazon.ca.

Looking down the set of metal steps that leads from Upper Lorne Avenue in Chinatown to Primrose Avenue in the Lebreton Flats area, most of us would simply see a steep hill with a sheer rock face to the left. But creative thinkers Marc Dupuis and Amanda Crowther saw a challenging site just perfect for a cliff-side dwelling. Eric Darwin talks with Dupuis about how this spectacular four-storey house came to be.

This feature appears in the May 2012 print edition. Pick up the print edition on newsstands.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARC FOWLER/METROPOLIS STUDIO

The main entrance (at left in photo, beside the garage) is on Upper Lorne Avenue. To make the most of the views to the north, the couple situated their kitchen and dining room on this level and their living room and balcony on the top floor.

What attracted you to this site?
On the day I was checking out the site, there happened to be a utility vehicle working on Upper Lorne Avenue. I talked the crew into taking me up in the cherry picker. Here I was, 15 feet up and 15 feet out from the sidewalk, hanging over the edge of the escarpment. My eyes just popped out of my head when I saw the view.

This is a challenging site. Are you an experienced builder?
Actually, I’m an IT business analyst for the RCMP but I also operate Limestone Developments. My first fixer-upper was in 1996 — a semi on Lees Avenue. My second was a three-door row house on Lorne. As we gutted it, we discovered structural problems, so of necessity, I became a new house builder. Then  I found this 23-by-50-foot lot.

Didn’t this lot seem impossible to build on? 
One side of the lot is 30 feet higher than the other. The south side is on Upper Lorne; the lower (north) side stands at the corner of Lorne and Primrose Avenue. The sidewalk between is a staircase with 45 steps. Behind us, the huge stone monastery looks like a medieval castle, and nearby is a nunnery straight out of Europe. The view to the north made us think we were in a high-rise condo. There is no other site like this in Ottawa. I had faith that engineers could make it work.

Knowing that they would spend a lot of time in the kitchen, the couple splurged on a custom design by Frank Prendergast of Neoform Art Cabinetry. The table is from Urban Barn and chairs were sourced from Zone.

The stairs have a modern yet industrial look. They act almost as a sculptural element, running between the four floors.

Who was your architect?
Linda Chapman designed the layout, with two floors below the Upper Lorne level and two floors above. We took her solution to the city and eventually got permission to build. Then we hired Jason Flynn to finish the floor plans and detail a house.

How did you build into the hill?
The stone cliff is quite fractured. We used a backhoe to dig out 100 tons of rock from the bottom of the site to make a level pad on which to pour the foundation. It was actually quite simple.

Simple? There must have been difficulties!  
It’s an unusual lot — it required unusual servicing. The city couldn’t figure out which street was our address, which services we could access, what was the front or side of the lot. When in doubt, they sat on the permits. We had to keep calling in our engineers and architects to prove that the project was feasible. It took longer to get the permits than to do construction!

How about the contractors? 
Everyone was scared of the site at first, but once they ran through the logistics of delivering materials to a rather conventionally built house, their confidence grew and prices returned to normal.

Surely your house is anything but conventional?
We employed technologies that are used elsewhere; the unusual came from putting them together in one house.  The floors are all radiant hot-water heated from a tankless water heater. The first two floors are built of ICF — it’s like assembling giant foam Lego blocks that are then pumped full of concrete. The house is super insulated and super cheap to heat or cool. The metal staircase runs four floors, behind glazed walls that look into the cliff face.

The master bedroom, set on the south side of the house, is situated directly beneath the garage. Says Dupuis: “You’d never know the car was up above. I sleep just fine.”

Surely no one else has a garage on the third floor?
We had street access only from Upper Lorne, which is our third floor. It’s actually not hard to support a garage, so there is living space underneath it. In our case, it’s our master bedroom and you’d never know the car was up above. I sleep just fine.

What were your “must-haves”? 
Materials that complement the natural exposed cliff face and the adjacent monastery. We also knew we wanted an inverted floor plan with living areas at the top and bedrooms down below, to maximize the views. We were also sold on having a super-insulated house — energy efficiency pays us back forever. We wanted a flexible-use level (the ground floor) that could be rented out for income.

What were the big splurges?
The kitchen/dining area on the entry level had to make a great first impression. Frank Prendergast of Neoform delivered a showpiece kitchen.

When did you know the design was right?
It was mid-winter, bitterly cold, windy, and already dusk. The contractor had just laid the joists for the fourth floor. I walked out on them and, for the first time, could really savour the view.

What do the neighbours think?
Presumably the nuns and monks prayed for us. The street is busy with pedestrians, who often stop to comment. Ninety-five percent are positive and curious.

The living room is on the fourth floor, with access to a spacious balcony that looks out over Lebreton Flats and across the Ottawa River to Gatineau.