Fisher House

Located in Toronto's Little Portugal neighbourhood, Fisher House is a 1910s detached duplex on a triangular corner lot that was converted by architect and curator Deborah Wang into a single-family house for photographer Jenna Wakani, her professor husband, and their two young children. Designs for the “full gut” renovation started in fall 2020, with construction happening in year after. The Edwardian floor plan, a rabbit’s warren of rooms, was altered dramatically at the rear to provide a generous combined kitchen and family room, plus a concealed mudroom, pantry and powder room, all tucked to one side. The formality of the living and dining rooms at the front of the house were retained, but doorways were altered into a secession of openings instead.

A feature of the house is the oversized kitchen island, measuring 8.5 feet wide by 6.5 feet deep, so everyone in the family can face each other during mealtime prep. The kids have their seating area for crafts and snacks, Jenna’s usually at the stove cooking, and her husband is by the sink prepping meals or making cocktails. Everything else pinwheels around the island, including a lot of hidden storage and a separate pantry. Jenna recalls, “We were getting close to starting construction, but the kitchen design just didn't sit quite right, and I remembered Deb had mentioned early on in our planning she had this wild idea for a mega island. I was like ‘Deb, draw your giant island’ and it was an instantaneous consensus! It could not suit us better and it makes the entire space functional for our family.”

As close friends, Deborah and Jenna texted each other a million times during the process. Uncommon for an architect-client relationship, but crucial to the fluidity of communication and collaboration that drove the process, allowing them to bond over their shared love of Mutina tiles and designer light fixtures, including a Louis Poulsen dining room pendant and sconces by RBW, plus a wonderful excess of plants and Moroccan rugs.