Surrounded by the traditional homes of Toronto’s Lawrence Park—an established neighborhood, with houses circa the 1910s to 1940s—this contemporary 8,657-square-foot house complements its surroundings without blending in.

Featuring a quiet, restrained, and elegant design, it melds landscape, architecture, and interiors seamlessly. Toronto-based design firm Cecconi Simone Inc. designed the interiors to maximize natural daylight and outside views to the pool and yard.

Incorporating a material palette that was spare, light, and sophisticated, the home is sleek yet warm and inviting. Blonde wood floors, white cabinetry, and black fireplace surrounds are combined with barn board accents, hand selected for consistency.

Concealed ductwork and an absence of bulkheads maximize ceiling heights throughout all primary rooms. Warmth is introduced through texture and the movement of light, while the sparse palette creates the perfect backdrop for the family’s bold art collection. “When you enter the front door, there’s a direct sightline that connects to the rear yard.

To reinforce that sense of space and connection with the outdoors, we have a continuity of finishes and lighting, inside and out,” says Cecconi Simone principal Elaine Cecconi. “We also carefully delineated the public and private areas.

The homeowners love to entertain and wanted the house to reflect that, but they also wanted to create a sanctuary for their family of four.” The public zone of the house incorporates an entry area with closets and combined dining and living room.

There’s an elegant piano nested in the front window, a nod to the family’s musical interests. A contemporary cantilevered wood staircase, set behind a glass screen, features floating treads, while large windows and a skylight at the top of the stairs fill the space with natural light.

The private zone, meanwhile, is more casual and relaxed while still maintaining the same contemporary elegance. A double-volume space, the family room has two-story views overlooking the yard and pool. The kitchen is clad in back-painted white glass cabinetry behind which most appliances and the TV are integrated.

There’s seating at the island and a separate table for family dinners, while an outdoor barbecue and dining area offers space for dining al fresco. The pantry, clad in timber board, divides the private area from the public zone beyond. “One of our greatest challenges was in the kitchen, in matching the white glass on the built-in appliances with the adjacent glass cabinetry doors,” Cecconi says. “It’s a seemingly simple task, but it took an extraordinary number of samples to achieve.”

Upstairs is a primary retreat with views overlooking the back yard, the children’s bedrooms with ensuite bath and walk-in closets, and a separate guest suite with two bedrooms and a shared bath. The lower level integrates spa-like change rooms for the pool, as well as a gym, home theatre, climate-controlled cantina, and recreational room.

Another room—part music library, part office—artfully showcases the owners’ impressive vinyl record collection. “In the end, the home provides the perfect balance: it’s intimate when it needs to be yet generous in scale for entertaining; it integrates the interiors with nature in a seamless way,” Cecconi says. “The play of lighting creates magical spaces as daylight moves through the home to nighttime, when lighting is controlled with a programmable system, the home constantly transforms.”

This is a modern house with a wide driveway, a walkway in the middle and a lush green lawn of grass and shrubs with a tree in front of the main entrance. This is beside the beautifully lit garage door that matches well with the windows of the second level.

A closer look at the main entrance shows its lovely glass wall beside the main door that is part of a large wall panel of slat wood and glass with a unique look.

Upon entry, you are welcomed by this lovely foyer with a clean white ceiling that has recessed lights. On the side, you can see the glass-enclosed staircase leading to the second level.

This modern living room has a large glass wall on one side and a large white wall on the other that houses the modern fireplace and the TV. These pair well with the light gray sectional sofa and its cushioned coffee table.

This living room has a couple of white sectional sofas that blend perfectly with white wall that is contrasted by its modern fireplace across from the glass coffee table.

This is a closer look at the white wall that houses the modern fireplace with a glass covering. On the side is a floor-to-ceiling window with thin slats to filter the natural lights coming in.

This is the other side of the glass of the main entrance. It has consistent white walls, white ceiling and flooring to be contrasted by the black frames of the glass wall and the black grand piano on the side.

behind the sofa of the living room is the dining area. It has a large rectangular glass-top dining table surrounded by modern black chairs topped with modern decorative lighting that hangs from the white ceiling.

The side of the glass-enclosed staircase leading to the second level has a large colorful painting that stands out against the bright white ceiling, wall and the light hardwood flooring.

You can also see this colorful painting from the kitchen with the same clean and white aesthetic as the rest of the house.

This is the modern galley-style kitchen with modern white cabinetry to pair with its white countertops to make the sink and cooking area stand out.

This is a close look at the pantry of the house with a large wooden structure that has a rustic look to its assembled wooden crates to form uneven shelves filled with various food products for storage.

The second floor landing has white walls brightened by the glass shed ceiling. These are then complemented by the colorful wall-mounted artworks that bring color to the area.

The modern platform bed has gray sheets and pillows to match the large gray area rug. The wooden headboard of the bed stands out against the white wall behind it.

This is a closer look at the bed that has a large wooden headboard. This extends to the sides to support the floating bedside tables. This is then topped with a wall-mounted artwork.

The gorgeous primary bathroom has a large white bathtub by the wall making it stand out against the gray tones. Across from it is the modern white floating vanity paired with a large mirror.

This is the lush and luxurious music room with walls of built-in shelves for a large record collection. There is a large white island in the middle to display a lovely instrument collection.

The second level window gives a perfect view of the backyard that is surrounded by tall trees and shrubs for privacy.

This view of the backyard shows the lovely pool on the right side followed by a concrete poolside area and a walkway that leads to the grass lawn on the left and the patio by the house.

This nighttime view of the backyard features the gorgeous warmth of the house that glows because of the large glass walls. These illuminate the backyard with a nice homey glow.

Project Details

Project Name: Lawrence Park Residence Type: New build Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Interior Design: Cecconi Simone Inc.

Architecture: Richard Wengle Architect Inc. General

Contractor: GreenGold Construction Ltd.

Size: 8,657 square feet

Photography: Shai Gil

Press Distribution: v2com

About Cecconi Simone Inc.

Cecconi Simone Inc. is an award-winning interior design practice based in Toronto, Canada, privately owned and operated by Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone.

Established in 1982, Cecconi Simone has designed some of the most beautiful and successful interior environments for the retail, corporate, hotel-hospitality, and residential sectors in Canada, the United States, Anguilla, Italy, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, India, and China.

Cecconi Simone has positioned itself as an industry leader, designing intelligent, progressive, and brand-specific interiors for a diverse cross-section of projects around the world.