'You know how you dream about where you want to live when you grow up? This is the house I've always dreamed of," says Tara Hurst of the home she shares with her husband, Michael Zary, and their chocolate labrador retriever, Zadie (after author Zadie Smith). The Arts and Crafts-style cottage in Victoria's Gonzales neighbourhood was built in 1913 and has a character all its own, which the couple strived to maintain despite an all-out renovation that saw many rooms stripped "to the studs," Hurst says.
"I think that when you live in a house that's old and has that much history, there's something about maintaining and respecting it that is really important," she says. The Arts and Crafts movement, originating in the mid-to-late 19th century in Britain, emerged as an indictment of mechanized factory-production and advocated a return to traditional crafts and decorative forms. On the west coast of Canada, in the hands of Samuel Maclure and others, the style found local prominence and came to define swaths of Victoria's built landscape.
Hurst, hailing from Ontario and currently a creative director for the start-up Flytographer, which connects travellers with local photographers around the world, landed in British Columbia 10 years ago. "The quality of life in Victoria is just outstanding," Hurst says. "We looked at quite a few character houses before we bought our home three years ago. When I walked into the dining room and saw the windows, I just knew it was the house I wanted."
The dining room is the one space in the house – her favourite – that the couple didn't alter, maintaining the original floors, built-in hutch, doors and the leaded-glass windows, which look out to surrounding evergreen laurel trees. "They keep their foliage all year so it's really private… and also really dreamy," Hurst says.
When decorating, Hurst takes a page from the Arts and Crafts handbook, favouring local artisans, and mixing old and new. The dining room harvest table, vintage Thonet chairs and reupholstered Bergère armchair are from Pigeonhole Home Store in Victoria. Light fixtures are care of Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co. in Portland, specializing in crafted, one-of-a-kind heirlooms. Hurst's vintage copper collection, stored in the hutch, is complemented by a serving tray from Williams Sonoma.
A porcelain vase, made on Vancouver Island by Gwen Howey for HOLD, flower arrangement by local florist Rook & Rose and scented candle by Hollow Tree in Whistler complete the table – a particular pleasure for Hurst who enjoys cooking and hosting friends around a "really beautifully set table," she says.
In addition to finding inspiration locally, Hurst seeks it out in her travels. Recent trips to London, Iceland, Italy and Morocco – where she purchased the large area rug that warms the dining room floor, along with nine others, admitting she "went a little crazy" in Chefchaouen – have influenced her design aesthetic and attitude toward homemaking. A cooking class in Beaune, France with The Cook's Atelier was a highlight. "The simplicity of the French approach has definitely inspired a lot of the decisions I've made," says Hurst. "The ease of it. Older pieces that add texture and a story. An appreciation for things that have a history."
"We live in a younger culture [in Canada]. It's here, it exists, but you definitely have to seek it out. Usually people aren't looking for the oldest house that needs the most renovations, but that's essentially what I was looking for," Hurst says.
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