Matt Donahoe of Bureau Interior Design built this home on reclaimed brick, wire brushed iron and waxed oak. The result is a house where every room carries its own material story, from the entry hall to the primary suite.
Gerald Place was designed with architects Nick Dryden and Timon Covelli of Dryden Architecture and built by Kingdom Builders, and Matt Donahoe of Bureau Interior Design worked in dark timber, wrought iron and stone rather than the lighter materials seen elsewhere in his portfolio. “This project’s DNA is deeply resonant of Belgian and Scandinavian architectural movements,” he says, describing a house built to be touched as much as seen.
The entry hall sets the material vocabulary for everything that follows. Groin vaulted ceilings rise over floors laid in brick herringbone, forming what Donahoe calls a secondary threshold into the house, “a true enfilade of steel and glass partitions from the front of the home all the way to the primary suite.” The bricks themselves are reclaimed Belgian bluestone, sourced through Scotland and supplied as pavers by Exquisite Surfaces, arriving still marked with limestone mineral deposits from their previous life. Donahoe set that raw, mineral streaked stone against smooth, hand trowelled Venetian plaster from Domingue Finishes. “The dialogue initiated by these materials absolutely informed the balance of the home in many respects.”
That same pairing, rough against refined, carries into the furniture. Carved stools by Formations and a sculptural console sit near a Gregorius Pineo sofa upholstered in Rose Uniacke linen. “A primitive piece is showcased in its glory when juxtaposed with a piece with more restraint,” Donahoe explains. “A tightly upholstered sofa with a rustic table tells a much more interesting tale than something equally tailored.”
In the kitchen, cabinetry by MDM Design Studio in waxed oak meets Calacatta Caldia marble countertops, Waterworks faucets and Rocky Mountain hardware, laid over custom reclaimed European white oak flooring. “Kitchens are not to be treated preciously,” Donahoe says. “They should speak to utility and act as the epicentre of the home experience.”
The primary bedroom holds a single dominant object: a Gregorius Pineo iron four poster bed, its frame wire brushed and topped with hand wrought metal detailing, its headboard finished in Jerry Pair leather. Set against a wall of steel framed French doors, the bed anchors the otherwise open room.
Donahoe traces the house’s European character to specific decisions rather than a mood board. “There is a crucial understanding of light and dark, masculine and feminine, and primitivity and sophistication.” Gerald Place, he says, draws on “places I have read about, personally visited, and dreamed of,” fixed now in bluestone, iron and oak.
