Property markets were in her favour, so Pat set out to find exactly what she was looking for—no more merely settling. Her quest was over when she came across Villagio, a three-storey, 12-unit apartment complex conveniently located in Kensington. “I just fell in love with it,” says Pat. She’s been there for three years now, and has never looked back.

“Before I was just making do,” she says, explaining that in her new pad, she wanted to get things she really liked. “I thought, ‘I have to make this place home.’ ” She called in Willow Studio, an interior design venue conveniently located in Kensington, just a stone’s throw from her building, to help her achieve the effect that she wanted. “I kinda’ know what I like and what I don’t like.”

When in university Pat had taken some interior design courses and through her studies discovered her love of the style and charms of designers like Frank Lloyd Wright. “I like the modern, contemporary feel,” she says. She feels her living area—a bold but classy space, making statements in black, white and red—is very much inspired by them. Little tributes throughout the area lend to this effect. She
has incorporated modern furniture with designer Harry Bertoia’s famous wire bar stools at her kitchen island and the famous Le Corbusier chaise lounge in her bedroom.

A bright red “lipstick” chair and asymmetrical Eileen Gray side table make a statement near the living room window. Overall a theme of simplicity and resistance to over ornamentation lend an elegant and sophisticated effect.

Pat’s two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit is on the ground floor, spanning 1,532 square-feet. The living area takes up the predominance of the space, with an open-plan kitchen leading directly to her living and dining area. “It’s nice for parties,” says Pat, who enjoys hosting friends and has thrown cocktail parties of up to 35 people. “I like to entertain and this is the perfect place to do it,” she says, adding how nice it is at dinner parties that she can talk to people from her kitchen while she cooks. “You’re free and easy.”

Along with a seating area surrounding a shag rug, a fireplace and television, the large living space also houses a grand piano. Pat has taken to playing since her retirement and the open plan area is perfect for her piano.
One of Willow Studio’s ideas Pat particularly warmed up to was refurbishing a teak dining set she had bought roughly in 1974. Instead of going off and buying an entirely new set, Pat had the table and chairs stained and reupholstered in striking new fabrics that went with the contemporary modern feel she was shooting for. “When you see something you like, they help you make it work,” she says of Willow’s contribution.
Her unit overlooks a communal backyard, but Pat says it hardly gets used and feels very private. “Coming from a house I think it was good for me (to have this space).”

Pat uses her second bedroom as an office-cum-study area, with a computer and all her filing. Her main bedroom faces out onto the garden and is light and open with many windows. The ensuite features a freestanding shower and bathtub and glass brickwork to let in the light. “I haven’t gussied up the bedroom yet, but that’s my next project,” says Pat. Asked if she’ll keep with the theme of the rest of her home, she smiles and says with assurance, “Oh, I think it will be contemporary too.”

Getting her condo together as it is now wasn’t an overnight process, says Pat. “I did it bit by bit, but knew where it was going. This is what I wanted.”

The lack of maintenance, inside and out, involved with living in a condo was a huge drawing card for her. No replacing roof tiles or upkeep, “And it doesn’t take me long to clean it!” she says.

The lock-up-and-go element of a condo is another huge asset for Pat, who is an avid traveller. “I like to move around,” she says, having just returned from Mexico and currently planning a trip to Turkey for the fall. “I’m interested in people,” she says of her adventures, “seeing different things, doing different things.” She also pays close attention to food in places she visits—another passion for Pat, who taught it as a subject at school.
The Villagio, with an exterior modelled after buildings in Old Montreal, was completed in January of 2003 by the now-defunct La Costa Housing. It is known for being Canada’s first condo project to use Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF) in walls inside and out, a merit for which it received an award—“Best Lowrise Concrete Condo in Canada,” from the Concrete Association of Canada, according to developer Peter Mauro. The result is that the building has great energy efficiency, a three-hour fire rating as well as incredible soundproofing. “The building is really well built,” says Pat, who also sits on her condo board as president. “You can’t hear anything.”