The National
The National
National, located just north of Toronto in an exclusive neighborhood flanking the National Golf Club of Canada, sits on a naturally wooded, three-acre site. The client that approached FrankFranco had just purchased the property and was eager to sever the site into five lots. This motion received significant opposition from the community. The studio convinced the client that a parcel of land this large, with panoramic views to the northeast and the south, was a rarity and should be kept intact.
FrankFranco worked closely with the conservation authority on this property, especially to resolve the issue of how to minimally impact the wood lot. What the studio was able to establish was a relatively small building pocket and position the house forward, as well as its parking amenities, on the lot. The result: an 11,000-square-foot home with two floors and a subterranean garage with 12 parking bays to store the client’s car collection. All private views to three holes of the golf course were preserved, as was the tree line, and the initially problematic top bank of the site.
Some of the special features of this property include the cantilevered front which stretches from the reception on the second floor out over 21 feet towards the front lawn line; a similar cantilever is featured at the rear end. FrankFranco is proud to have been able to accommodate such modern design features by working closely with all governing bodies, ultimately overachieving in terms of what it was initially allowed to build.