This original 1940’s Art Deco has a backyard for a front yard and was quite the eye sore before (see below) with it’s overgrown driveway and lack of patio for the suite area below. 

It was all fun and games removing the piles of rock, clay and soil until I hit Vancouver Island granite. Now I know why there was never a patio down there before! Behold the rock that I had broken up by an excavator…

We dug this front yard up and installed new perimeter drains, built a new split’nstack with poured concrete patio for the suite. It took forever and cost a small fortune. Here’s the jackhammer that started it all (shown here below removing the backyard patio, couldn’t help myself…) 

As a Realtor I sure don’t mess around with Perimeter drains - they are the most system of a home like this with a finished basement. 

Fast forward to today and I’ve never been happier with this front yard! A fresh coat of paint makes the back of this Art Deco look spectacular. I also updated the exterior accent colour from the classic Red to a bright Turquoise and I’m so happy with the results! Curb appeal is a real thing, and it doesn’t matter how renovated my interior was, coming home to the outdated exterior was a downer. 

Our new patio! I called in an arborist to cut the neighbour’s tree and they cut “fence to sky” allowing for even more light to come into the patio area. It may have taken me a decade to do it but I believe the Art Deco finally got the (front/back) yard it deserved :) 

We built out a kitchenette in our office/guest area downstairs and installed a washer/dryer combo with a multi-use large sink. This huge sink was needed as emergency drainage for this kind of combo washing machine but it also had a neat built-in dish rack and cutting board - perfect for a micro kitchenette! 

3 pot lights highlight the recessed kitchenette area painted Dove Grey to pick up the shades in the marble-look laminate countertop. We applied super easy and affordable stick-on tile for this low-traffic area and I love the arabesque lines of the backsplash tile! We then cut a board of inexpensive pine to custom fit the shelf space and finished it with a white stain.

To save on space we added extra long cabinet handles that double as dish towel racks and snuck some more drawers under the stairs. I love how the pot lights light up the glassware and highlight ceramics in this space :)

If you’re looking for help with your listing that needs to get ready for the market to sell or you’re looking for an excellent Property Management team we are your people! 

Nick Valinoti (Nicky) brings decades of experience as a retired NYC Building Superintendent. Nicky has been a reliable, essential worker as Building Superintendent for a large 1890’s mixed residential and commercial building in the Upper West Side of Manhatta where he navigated many different safety, maintenance and management protocols while maintaining effective relationships with tenants. Nick’s construction background brings advanced renovation and repair skills to the table and being a ‘Super’ in New York City demands compassion as well as Property Management & Maintenance expertise.

Christina Stack has been a MLS award winning Realtor since 2010 in the Greater Victoria Real Estate Market, now a licensed Associate Broker, Christina is also a licensed Property Manager. Christina spent over 10 years renovating and restoring their Art Deco house in Esquimalt and is passionate about all things Real Estate. Christina’s real talents include contracts, negotiations and marketing, but she is never afraid to get hands on in a renovation. She enjoys the responsibility of general contracting, landscaping and yard maintenance as well as interior design and painting. 

Both Christina and Nicky were improving homes from a young age. Christina helping her parents renovate and build homes (her parents were German immigrants, she was renovating from birth), and Nicky was the same! We love this photo of mini Nick when he first learned how to use a hammer with his Grandpa at their cottage in upstate New York. He’s also been fixing and building ever since.