This two-story
house, in Toronto's Yorkville Village, centers around a glazed interior
courtyard, separating the entry, vestibule and garage at the front
from the living and kitchen area at the rear. Upstairs, the front
contains two bedrooms with bathroom and study, connected by a bridge
across the courtyard to a study, master bedroom and bath overlooking
the rear garden. The house, designed by Barton Myers for his own
family, and published worldwide, demonstrates the feasibility of
infilling a narrow urban lot, 25 feet by 118 feet. While the Myers
house is obviously of contemporary design, its scale and alignment
relate to its older neighbors.
The central
courtyard, topped by greenhouse framing and full of light and greenery,
functions very much in the Roman tradition of the 'atrium'-a place
for meeting, dining and entertaining. This pioneering design features
frankly exposed steel structure and mechanical systems, now familiar
aspects of Barton Myers' work.
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