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The Home of the Week is a CEO’s ski chalet inspired by Belgian country homes.Elevated Photos
This week: Carpets and rugs get snagged by tariffs, and the push to relocate homes instead of tearing them down. Plus, breaking down how bond yields actually drive up fixed mortgage rates, and one property worth a look.
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Carpet burn
Tariffs pull the rug out from under home builders
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Carpets and rugs have been snagged in Canada’s latest retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., making it harder for decorators like Lisa Parise, who runs the Toronto-based design company Matter & Co, to furnish new and renovated homes.Nic Hotchkiss/The Globe and Mail
One of the latest targets of the trade war is likely in your home or under your feet at the office. Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on approximately $28-billion of U.S. goods will drive up prices on everything and the kitchen sink, builders and suppliers say. But perhaps no one is feeling the rug burn more at this time than those in need of a lot of carpet.
Unlike the last time Canada retaliated against the U.S., there’s no CUSMA exemption for the 25-per-cent tariff on the most in-demand commercial carpet, and as Shane Dingman reports, Canada doesn’t have a domestic manufacturer to meet the need. Instead home builders and suppliers are looking to international manufacturers to cover the floors of new and renovated homes, just when another big ‘Buy Canadian’ push has begun.
Carpet and rugs may seem like a random target, but it’s a calculated move to hit the industry’s centre in politically sensitive Georgia, which leans Republican but has swung blue in recent elections. But, as decorators and home-builders told Shane, it’s driving construction costs even higher in an industry already struggling to break ground and sell units. Read the full story about the latest snag.
Moving house
Should we relocate homes instead of demolishing them?
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A new report estimates about 20 per cent of homes torn down in Vancouver could be salvaged and relocated elsewhere, like this one being moved by Renewal Development in B.C.Renewal Development
Would you live in a home that had been transported from somewhere else? In Vancouver, there’s a growing push to move homes whole instead of tearing them down, and as Kerry Gold writes, the idea isn’t as novel as it might seem.
Between all the redevelopment signs in the Broadway Plan area and the emptied lots awaiting new shovels here in the city, it’s easy to see why Vancouver is the demolition capital of Canada. About 90,000 detached homes will be torn down across Canada in the next decade and one-third of those will be in Metro Vancouver, according to a new report by non-profit Light House and partially funded by the federal government.
But even as demolition makes way for much-needed denser housing in many cities, Light House estimates about 20 per cent of the homes could be salvaged and relocated to communities where there is immediate demand, at a fraction of the cost of building new. “It’s crazy,” Light House’s Gil Yaron told Kerry. “Not only are we wasting material, but the sad irony is that we are destroying housing at the same time as we have a housing crisis.” Read Kerry’s column about what it would take, and the companies already helping people repurpose homes.
This week’s lowest fixed and variable mortgage rates in Canada
Rates shown are the lowest available for each term/type and category (insured vs. uninsured) as of market close on Thursday, Sept. 17.
Explainer
How rising U.S. bond yields are affecting your mortgage and more
If your mortgage is up for renewal or you’re thinking of buying a home (or you just read this newsletter closely), you’ve probably been hearing a lot about the U.S. bond market’s impact on mortgage rates, inflation, car loans, GICs, long-term bonds and more. But what exactly is a bond yield, and why are they driving up fixed mortgage rates here in Canada?
To answer your questions, Scott Barlow, a market strategist for The Globe and a 20-year veteran of Canadian investment banks recently joined The Decibel podcast and spoke with host Sherrill Sutherland to break it all down.
And if you’d rather read than listen, my colleague Arisa Valyear put together this handy guide to Scott’s key points and why the bond market affects our finances so much.
Design corner
The Canadian roots of the ‘Scoop’ chair from Sterling Point
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The Huber Scoop chair, like this one reupholstered in beige leather, is getting its moment in the spotlight.Pray For Modern/Supplied
There’s plenty to kick your feet about watching Amazon Prime’s show Sterling Point – colourful Muskoka sunsets, tender first kisses and major reveals – but design lovers will also be thrilled by an iconic Canadian piece of furniture. The ‘Scoop’ chair by Toronto manufacturer R. Huber is dragged out of a thrift store and onto a boat by Annie (Ella Rubin), and as Nathalie Atkinson writes, the midcentury modern piece is well worth the effort.
Just like the setting of the coming-of-age drama, the Scoop is pure, unfiltered Canadiana. Its rounded design is Scandi-inspired and built to last with distinctive deep-button tufting, making it a beautiful and durable piece to accent any room. Read more about the chair’s Canadian roots, where to find one and how much you’ll be paying.
Home of the Week
A CEO’s ski chalet keeps family – and the slopes – close
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Four fireplaces are the hearts of this home, which is designed for gathering – and ski-racing.Elevated Photos
2710 Nottawasaga 10 Concession N, Clearview, Ont. – Full gallery here
It can take years to find out if your home was a good investment, but veteran businessman Joe Canavan knew this one would be before he even broke ground. After seeing how the first cottage he ever bought turned his hardworking immigrant parents into lovebirds, Canavan built the Winterbrook estate to give his own family of five a similar space to connect – and it has paid dividends in stronger bonds between them.
Custom built by Dalton Beachli and inspired by Belgian country homes, the six-bedroom is both a quiet escape and an at-home training facility for Canavan’s three ski-racing sons, complete with hot tub, steam room, full gym, boot and equipment room and a cold plunge.
But you don’t need to be an elite athlete to enjoy the stone and white oak throughout the home designed for gathering. Two-storey windows look onto the golf course and flood the great room with light, and wood beams and ceiling panels keep the home feeling both warm and modern. Four stone fireplaces, including an outdoor built-in fire pit, form the centres of the home Canavan says helped bring his family even closer together.
What do you think is the asking price for the property?
a. $2,975,000
b. $3,575,000
c. $3,975,000
d. $4,575,000
c. The asking price is $3,975,000.