London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

A DIY Couple Build a Farm-Fresh Retreat in the Canadian Countryside

A DIY Couple Build a Farm-Fresh Retreat in the Canadian Countryside

Working with architect Nova Tayona, a Toronto-based couple create a family farmhouse that merges past and present.

Kristine Remedios and John Silva had a shared vision. "We always wanted a modern house with a country feel," says Kristine. Both Kristine and John work and live in Toronto-she’s an inclusion and diversity officer, and John teaches photography and digital media to high schoolers-but a few years ago, the couple became enchanted with the rural community in Ontario’s Prince Edward County, a three-hour drive from the city.



At one end of the house is an unconditioned space designed to function like a screened porch. The roof trusses are made of wood from the old farmhouse, and the interior walls are clad with shiplap boards painted white. The wood stove is from Pacific Energy.

In the historically agricultural area, previously settled by British loyalists during the American Revolution, they came across a six-acre farm with a dilapidated farmhouse and barn dating back to the 1830s. "There was something about it," says John. "It had woods and fields and a rolling landscape-it was a very pleasant spot. We thought we were going to save the house."

After the couple consulted with architect Nova Tayona, who had been a patron of a cafe Kristine and John used to operate in Toronto, it became clear that the farmhouse was unsalvageable and that they would have to start from scratch. From Tayona’s perspective, it was all the better. "In Ontario, you often see farmhouses with something modest in the back, which is the original structure, and something taller in the front, which is the fancy part that came later," she says.

The all-new family retreat features 2,500 square feet inside of an L-shaped layout. In a tall three-story volume are the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, and a loft, and a connected one-story volume contains the living room and screened porch. "I also wanted to create privacy from the road and have an open view towards the field and the barn," adds Tayona.



The living room is heated with a Morsø wood stove. The house is clad in Maibec prefinished rabbeted-bevel wood siding in Ultra White and has a standing-seam metal roof.

Having previously renovated four other properties, including their 1800s-era home in Toronto, Kristine and John were excited to do much of the construction themselves. They took on some of the framing, along with the wiring, the siding, the concrete floors, and the interior finishes. "We like to do the work-and we wouldn't have had the budget to hand it off," says Kristine. Says Tayona of her clients, "They’re both very handy and precise, and have an understanding of how things come together."

The couple purposely requested that the house have no closets or built-ins. "We wanted it to be a really simple place," says Kristine. "It’s so peaceful here. We walk right into a field in the morning."



In the porch room, Max, age 10, and Emily, age 8, sit on a vintage sofa from Gone Vintage in Belleville, Ontario. The caribou antlers are from Aberfoyle Antique Market in Puslinch, Ontario.



In the dining room, the acrylic paintings are portraits of the children by Kristine. The dining table was made by John from wood reclaimed from the farmhouse, and is paired with dining chairs from Smash Salvage in Hamilton, Ontario.



The kitchen cabinetry is from IKEA; the cabinet pulls are from Richelieu Hardware. In the spring, the family harvests maple syrup from the trees outside the window.



A pendant light in the kitchen is a basic socket combined with an LED Edison bulb.



The living room sofa is from EQ3.



One of the kids’ bedrooms has a lamp that was scavenged, which was paired with a long incandescent bulb.



The main bathroom features Timorous Beasties’s White Moth Circle wallpaper. The mirror and vanity are from Gone Vintage in Belleville, Ontario. The shower is tiled in white Saltillo tile from Saltillo Imports in Toronto.



The combined laundry room/powder room features Sardines Charcoal wallpaper by local artist Kate Golding.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×