36 Millbank Ave., Toronto<\/p>\n
Asking Price: $6,695,000<\/p>\n
Taxes: $26,640.63 (2025)<\/p>\n
Lot Size: 45 by 148 feet<\/p>\n
Agent: Robin Farb-Eckler, Harvey Kalles Real Estate<\/p>\n
Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n The family room has a lift-and-slide door that opens the back wall to the garden, an innovative feature in the 1990s.Supplied<\/p>\n The backstory<\/p>\n From the early days of his practice, Siamak Hariri has been contemplating ways to create architecture that resonates with the human soul.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are all spiritual beings with a body attached,\u201d the architect says in describing the emotional lift people experience when they engage with music, art and poetry.<\/p>\n Today, Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects places that tenet at the centre of the firm\u2019s designs for museums, concert halls, university buildings, and places of worship.<\/p>\n A modern Scottish longhouse with cozy flair showcases Georgian Bay views<\/a><\/p>\n On a recent July day, Mr. Hariri made a return visit to one of his earliest residential projects, where designing a new Forest Hill residence for a Toronto couple was also a summons to meet that aspiration.<\/p>\n The clients were veteran real estate developer Jerry Shear and his wife, Eleanor.<\/p>\n The couple shared six sons in a blended family, says Mr. Shear, but the children had all moved on in 1996, when he and his wife purchased a teardown bungalow on a steeply sloping lot.<\/p>\n Mr. Shear had retired from the development business by that time, but a son who worked in the industry told him about the emerging talent of Mr. Hariri.<\/p>\n When he invited the architect to meet, the two were quickly on the same wavelength; they both agreed as they reflected on their early visits to the site.<\/p>\n Mr. Hariri recalls standing on the incline, puzzling out how to place walls so that the Shears could be surrounded by their art collection while light flowed through the centre of the home.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you combine light, art and landscape, you have magic,\u201d says Mr. Hariri. \u201cIt\u2019s an emotional engagement. That\u2019s what I was after.\u201d<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Limestone, used throughout the kitchen, is a Hariri signature material.Supplied<\/p>\n The house today<\/p>\n The practice founded by Mr. Hariri and David Pontarini had only been established for a couple of years when Mr. Shear called on the pair.<\/p>\n The firm\u2019s profile was raised immeasurably in 1999 when the McKinsey & Co., corporate headquarters, built on the campus of the University of Toronto, won multiple prestigious awards.<\/p>\n The work on the Shear house coincided with the development of that groundbreaking building, Mr. Hariri recalls, and each influenced the other.<\/p>\n Houses are a testing ground because they allow the time and space to explore new things, he says, and the Shears did not back away from innovation.<\/p>\n \u201cThey demanded it,\u201d says Mr. Hariri. \u201cThey were gutsy. They let me experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n The house, with 4,287 square feet of above-ground living space, is organized around a three-storey atrium with clerestory windows, which bring light to the dining room at the centre.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n The dining room at 36 Millbank Ave.Supplied<\/p>\n For Ms. Shear, who died in 2023, having a large table where friends and family could gather for dinners and celebrations was paramount.<\/p>\n The family room at the rear of the house has a lift-and-slide door that opens the back wall to the garden.<\/p>\n The concept is more commonly used today, but it was remarkable in the 1990s, says Mr. Hariri.<\/p>\n A living area at the front of the home overlooks the street.<\/p>\n Mr. Hariri chose cherry wood for the kitchen cabinets and limestone for the floor, countertops and centre island.<\/p>\n He began using the stone, he says, after the owner of an Owen Sound, Ont., quarry offered it for free if Mr. Hariri would use it for a high-profile project in the financial district.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually fell in love with the material,\u201d says the architect. \u201cI\u2019ve used it so much; it has become a signature.\u201d<\/p>\n An open staircase leads to the second floor, where the home is divided into two wings connected by a bridge overlooking the dining room.<\/p>\n The separation of the primary suite at the rear and the additional bedrooms at the front creates privacy for the homeowners, Mr. Hariri notes.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve used this many times now. People are happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Shear currently uses one room overlooking the street for his home office, while a second bedroom is reserved for guests.<\/p>\n