One of Toronto’s nicest live-work buildings (at least east of Yonge Street) is currently on the market, with top Canadian designer Sarah Richardson’s blessing.
The detached building at 155 George Street has over 6800 square feet of restored space over three levels, including a beautiful main floor that serves as the acclaimed designer’s present creative workplace.
The light-filled space has 12-foot ceilings, exposed brick, plenty of natural light, three bathrooms, and a private rooftop retreat with city skyline views (best enjoyed at 5pm with a cocktail in hand, presumably).
For those who can envision it, the second-floor loft area would make a spectacular residence. Meanwhile, a modern open-concept workspace on the lower level features polished concrete floors and large windows.
Individual Hvac, entrances, kitchens, and bathrooms are metered on each floor of the property. The large room could easily be transformed into a studio, an office, a co-working space, or a home the options are unlimited. That is, assuming you have deep enough cash.
The asking price for this home is $5,500,000. Living above Sarah Richardson and her crew is a little price to pay.
What happened to Sarah’s off-grid home?
Every summer, Sarah Richardson, a Toronto-based designer and HGTV star, travels to a cottage on her own tiny private island in Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay with her husband and two daughters (plus a pair of guinea pigs and a dog). It’s a bare-bones setup, only accessible by boat or seaplane, and most kids would grumble the absence of Wi-Fi (not to mention spotty cell phone reception). Richardson’s daughters, on the other hand, are more likely to protest when she switches on the light.
“My youngest despises everything but candlelight!” Richardson chuckles as she recounts how the family uses candles to light the living and dining rooms each night, despite the fact that solar panels on the roof produce more than enough electricity to keep the house running all day and night.
That’s just one of the characteristics that distinguishes Richardson’s husband’s cottage, which he built more than 20 years ago. Not that life isn’t comfortable there: last year, Richardson decided to give the entire property a high-style makeover after finding that all the windows and doors she had put less than a decade before hadn’t held up to the elements.
What is Sarah Richardson’s current status as a designer?
Sarah Richardson collaborates with top-tier international firms to bring consumers elegant products with the Sarah Richardson mark. The Sarah Richardson fabric collection was launched by Kravet Fabrics in 2013 and is available internationally through Kravet showrooms and distributors. In 2016, she released her second collection. Sarah expanded her product range in 2015, launching a line of home textiles that included bedding, accent pillows, throw blankets, table linens, draperies, and kitchen linens. Sarah’s unique approach to color and design has been translated to her own wallpaper collection with Brewster Wallcoverings, in addition to textiles. Sarah debuted her “Design Life” Series on YouTube in 2019, which has over 130,000 subscribers and is watched all around the world! Sarah Richardson for Palliser created an extensive range of upholstered furniture, case goods, carpets, throws, and cushions with Palliser in 2020. Sarah became a three-time bestselling author after launching a new book series, Collected by Sarah Richardson, with internationally renowned publisher Simon & Schuster in 2020. Sarah and her entrepreneur husband, Alexander Younger, have begun on a new TV adventure that will premiere in 2022 and will be their most ambitious production to yet!
Is Sarah Richardson a Creemore resident?
Creemore is a picturesque town with picture-perfect scenery and a hip, farm-to-fork vibe. Sarah Richardson, a designer and HGTV star, chose this little bit of rural heaven to create her 5,000-square-foot off-the-grid dream home.
What is the location of Sarah Richardson’s everlasting home?
For a long time, I’ve been covering renovation programming in Canada. How did I come to this conclusion? Because the people I’ve previously interviewed are building permanent houses for themselves and their family.
Sarah Richardson of HGTV Canada is the latest to join the trend. Sarah and her husband, Alex, follow in the footsteps of Bryan Baeumler and Scott McGillivray with Sarah Off the Grid, which premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada. Cameras chronicle the couple’s endeavor to build an off-the-grid home for themselves and their children. You don’t have to be a handyman or have a bad sense for design to admire someone like Sarah. Yes, she is talented, but she is also hilarious and relatable. Sarah Off the Grid gives fans of long-running hosts like Sarah a chance to get a glimpse inside her personality and family life.
In Sunday’s premiere, Sarah and collaborator Tommy Smythe, along with their husband Alex and daughters Robin and Fiona, jump in with both feet, laying the groundwork for a 5,000 square-foot home in Creemore, Ont., to be built from the ground up with off-the-grid necessities like solar power, wood burning fireplaces, and energy efficient materials. What’s the catch? Sarah and Alex will operate as their own general contractors, which will be a difficult challenge given the eight-month deadline Sarah has set. Things go quickly”the site is picked, permits are obtained, and clearing the last begins”and before you know it, the concrete foundation is being poured into styrofoam forms to save money and make drywall hanging easier.
Mike Holmes, a fellow HGTV Canada star, visits the location in Episode 1 and offers his thoughts. Mike casts doubt on Alex and Sarah’s decision to be the bosses, advising them to build a large home off the grid, stressing the importance of a backup sump pump and, maybe most importantly, recommending more solar panels. This throws the pair for a loop and causes them to reconsider their intentions.
Sarah Off the Grid, like the rest of her series, is both educational and fun. Tommy is amusing and she is charming. Alex, who is a natural in front of the camera, is Off the Grid’s secret weapon. Sarah’s husband is charming, understands what he’s talking about, and, most importantly, is confident that the task will be completed despite the obstacles they face. His positive attitude is contagious, and you just know they’ll be successful in their mission.
Is Design Inc still operational?
We have made the tough decision to close Design Inc. despite the dedicated efforts of a very creative and capable team. We gave all leftover monies to our investors, dissolved the team, repaid our designers, and permanently closed the platform because people are and always will be our top priority.
Success isn’t final; failure isn’t fatal; what matters is the fortitude to keep going.
There is a lot to be learned when a startup fails to grow into a profitable company. In the end, the entrepreneur bears sole responsibility for the startup’s success. I never intended for Design Inc. to end as abruptly as Firefly did.
Please read on to learn a little more about what we discovered perhaps there are a few nuggets here that will assist you on your trip.
Is Candice Olson still working as a designer?
What is Candice Olson up to these days? Olson is still an interior designer with a booming business in Canada, and she has exploited her celebrity to promote a number of product lines.
Is Sarah Richardson’s marriage still going strong?
Alexander Younger is Richardson’s husband. Their two children, Robin (born March 2006) and Fiona, reside with them in Toronto (born August 2008). Richardson and Younger also own a vacation house on Georgian Bay in Ontario, which Richardson renovated and featured in the Canadian television series Sarah’s Cottage, which was renamed Sarah’s Summer House in the United States. Solar energy and propane are used to power the summer house.
