MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Spring 2020

63 MOUNTAIN HOME words & photos :: Colin Field When Steve Corner and Lise Garrette came back to the Town of the Blue Mountains they found a place on a beautiful 50-acre lot. With western views into the Valley, the house itself was dated and in need of some love. Designed by John Hix, the passive solar design was built in 1981, but had seen better days. It was 2013. There were mushrooms growing on the windowsills. They made a few minor changes after moving in (like replacing those windows), but lived in the space until 2018 when the serious renovations began. “We had to know how to use the space and get a number of opinions from people on what they thought we should do with the house,” says Lise. “Because it was so different.” In late January 2018, the true work began. “We were very lucky to get Richard Skinner (Capital Contracting),” says Lise. “He usually picks up something in Osler [Bluff Ski Club] during the winter, but he didn’t that winter. And he was super-tolerant, because we said we have to live here [during the renovation]. That is not a great situation for a contractor. We had all our stuff packed into the bedrooms upstairs. And they had to provide us with a kitchen. So they would just move the stove, and they made LIGHT AND COLOUR Radical renovation reboots this Valley-side home where gallery, studio and domesticity coalesce “It’s hard to separate the artist from the house, the craft from the house…”