Dream location becomes dream home, too

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When Murray and Karolyn Chitwood purchased a 1960s bungalow on their dream lot in Calgary’s Charleswood community in the spring of 2022, they knew they’d have to renovate to create a workable, functional home with all of the bells and whistles for their family. But, never in a million years did they think that a year and a half later, they’d be living in a brand-new custom-designed home.

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“We bought the home because we loved the lot,” says Murray, noting that it was the home’s location across from a park that really sold the couple.

The previous owner had renovated the 1,200-square-foot bungalow, but the home still had issues with flow and use of space.

“Basically, the home was open-concept and by that, I mean one great big room,” recalls Murray. The couple both work from home a few days per week and so a closed-in and private office was definitely a must-have to work into a new design, as was a mudroom with plenty of space for shoes, coats and backpacks. The couple has two children: Victoria, 10, and Hamish, seven.

“There wasn’t a natural way of being able to step into the home and hang your jacket up before just jumping into the house. And with kids and their friends, it can get messy really fast,” says Karolyn, who works as an analyst.

Add to that a staircase that posed safety issues, a cramped kitchen with a small island only big enough to seat three people, a single-car garage (they needed a two-car model) and a master bedroom with no ensuite and the couple knew it needed a major overhaul.

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“There were just some inherent issues and we asked ourselves: can we live with them or do we see an opportunity for change,” says Karolyn, adding that they weren’t newcomers to the pitfalls of living in a mid-century bungalow. “Before we bought this lot, we’d been living in a similar-style bungalow 600 metres down the street, so we knew all of the downfalls of this style of home.”

By the summer of 2022, with boxes just recently unpacked, and just two months after the family had moved in, the couple brought on the award-winning new build and renovation company, Renova Homes and Renovations, to help them with the task of reconfiguring and renovating the home.

During a span of three months from September to the end of November in 2022, the couple worked hand-in-hand with the team to design a renovation that would work for the family and tick all of their must-have boxes.

“Renova was amazing. They really took a lot of time getting to know us, how we live, what are tastes are,” says Murray, adding that the plans took on several iterations, but no matter how they sliced it, the original home had some serious structural limitations and unless they took everything down to the studs and added an addition, they just weren’t going to get what they wanted.

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“The main concern was the stairs to the basement. We were working within the existing footprint and that was really limiting; we couldn’t move them anywhere else. The back door opened up and the stairs were literally right there. You know having little kids and their friends come in that was a safety concern for us,” says Murray.

“That’s when we hit the pause button,” says Karolyn.

“We chatted with Tom at Renova and he said, ‘Well you know, just for your information guys, we build new houses, too,’” says Murray with a laugh.

He suggested that they visit some of Renova’s new build show homes.

“And that’s when we pivoted,” says Karolyn.

“We already had a lot of the meat and potatoes for what they wanted. We could now take those things and add other components,” says Tom Welling of Renova Homes and Renovations. “And, when we crunched the numbers, a new build wasn’t that far off of what the renovation was going to cost. It costs almost as much to renovate an older home than to start from scratch and get exactly what you want, and you get a much better foundation, better mechanical and better energy efficiency throughout the whole house,” he says, adding that Renova is seeing more  clients coming to them wanting to upgrade a smaller, older inner-city home.

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The couple then rejigged their plans and set their sights on a new build home — one that would incorporate their entire wish-list into a two-storey, five-bedroom (one is used as a home gym), plus main floor office, 2,200-sq.- ft. home. Murray and Karolyn kicked off the project by recycling the bungalow, selling it to a home moving company, which craned it off of the lot and trucked it to its new home on a nearby acreage.  

“We’re really happy that it didn’t go into the landfill,” says Murray.

It was important to both Karolyn and Murray and to the design team at Renova that the home meld into the neighbourhood’s existing 1960s streetscape. As a result, the facade presents as a charming old-world farmhouse design with a front porch and vertical siding. The colour scheme is white and black, giving it clean and sleek appeal.

Inside, a two-story great room with an upper balcony and ample, wall-height windows offers a welcoming and light-filled vibe. A large office at the front of the home provides glorious views of the park. “We spend a lot of time in the office, so it’s got the best view in the house,” says Karolyn, who works from home three days a week.

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Murray, a land man by day, enjoys cooking for the family in the evenings.

“It’s my de-stressor,” he says, adding that having a functional and beautiful kitchen space was really important to him — an island with a waterfall edge, lots of storage, a light and bright atmosphere and a six-burner KitchenAid Professional Series gas stove-top are just a few of the items that now make his heart sing, as he whips up delicious meals for the family.

Another important piece in the design was the home’s flow — having an indoor-outdoor feeling was important. Extending from the rear of the home is a covered deck with a dedicated dining area, while in the front of the home, the porch is encased by a glass railing, a design feature that provides unobstructed views to the park from both the inside rooms of the home (the home office) and from the outdoor seating spaces.

“Now the home really flows. Everything has a place. Our quality of life has really improved,” says Karolyn, as she reflects on the journey. “Renova really guided us through everything. And now, even post-construction, we still have lots of engagement with them; they check in with us. I don’t know if that is unique to the industry, but it is something that is above and beyond what we were expecting. We are really, really happy with what the final house looks like and the quality of it.”

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