After returning to Toronto in 2008 after four years in Las Vegas, jazz singer Matt Dusk was delighted to be back close to family, and to the Weston and Kingsway neighbourhoods where he’d grown up.
“When I moved to Vegas, it was a whole different experience, and when I was longing for home I remembered the streets I walked on, the people I knew,” he says.
When he and his wife, Julita Borko, started planning for a new custom-built house in the Kingsway, they wanted family even closer.
“We have a wonderful extended family, and it made sense to live together under one roof. So, in 2015 we began the journey of building a family home for generations to come, ours or others,” says Dusk.
The result is a spectacular 6,000-square-foot multi-generational home. Dusk, Borko and their young daughter share it with Dusk’s mother, his brother and his girlfriend, his aunt and uncle when they’re not travelling, and Borko’s family when they visit from Poland.
“During the city of Toronto expansion in the ’50s and beyond, this area became synonymous with Robert Home Smith and his development company. Some would say that there was a nod to the Prairie style of Frank Lloyd Wright,” says Dusk. “We approached architect David Small , and we wanted the house to somewhat blend with the existing neighbourhood architecture and the environment.” It also had to accommodate family living and entertaining.
Dusk particularly admired the Lloyd Wright-designed Darwin Martin House in Buffalo, New York. Its design informed Dusk’s Natural Modern house, along with rough plans Dusk created in his teens on a program called 3D Home Architect.
“David took my preliminary vision and made it what it should be,” says Dusk. “We hit it off, and got along splendidly.”
Interior designer Rania Ismail of FOHR Design Studio took Dusk and Borko’s ideas, and photos Dusk took of hotel interiors when he was on the road, to create the interior style. It has a monochromatic palette in white, grey and black, interspersed with natural elements such as wood and stone.
“Our common areas are very open and the bedrooms very private,” says Dusk. “It allows the home to be connected, but you still can escape from the laughter and craziness of the nightly gatherings.”
He says there at least eight people in the home and gatherings six nights a week. He also jokes about “seasonal friends” who come by to use the infinity pool in the backyard from June to September.
The front foyer boasts plenty of natural light and a waterfall feature.
“The trickling water provides a sense of peace,” says Dusk. “In my parents’ home, they always had a little water fountain. This one is a tribute to my late father, as it always reminds me of him, except this one doesn’t leak.”
The open-concept kitchen is for gathering. Parents can hang out at the oversized kitchen island, as kids watch TV or play board games in the adjacent living room, with its double-height ceiling.
“I’m the bartender; my mom and my wife cook,” he says. “It’s a nice kitchen and has lots of storage. In August, we had an oyster party and I bought a couple of crates of oysters and we had a shucking line on the island with eight friends.”
When Dusk is in town, he hosts weekly board game nights in the basement family room, with its hotel-style bar, comfortable seating and piano.
“There is always music in the house,” says Dusk. “A lot of my friends are musicians, and they might be over watching the Blue Jays on TV, then someone might go to the piano and start playing. It’s like a little gig environment.”
Dusk does most of his work in his office, with a moody, dark palette and walls adorned with plaques of his gold and platinum-selling records (four of each).
The home has been featured in movies and TV shows including “One Of Us Is Lying,” “Rabbit Hole,” “Accused” and “I Will Find You.”
“It’s amazing to see 100 people descend on the property and turn it into a New York City penthouse or high-tech CIA headquarters,” says Dusk.
But it’s main purpose is family living, not movie set.
“We’ve made the house so you never want to leave, and we always want a place we can invite people over,” Dusk says.
Matt Dusk will be performing “A Very Sinatra Christmas” December 20 at 8 p.m. at the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls.
