living the dream

The Sullivans are living their dream.

It’s what happens when an artist, a chef, business owners, and two active toddlers get together to make a decision about where they want to live. Actually, that’s only 4 people – Lisa, Brendan and their two kids, Ava and Fox, recently built their dream home on 10 acres of land just outside Windsor, Nova Scotia.

With a real passion to live a more sustainable lifestyle, which includes the slow-food movement, their new home was built around the kitchen. But I’ll get back to that.

Their build included using reclaimed timbers, sustainable cork floors, and pine plank flooring as integral parts of the design found throughout the entire house.

Their home also features a large cold storage room. Based on “old-fashioned physics”, the air-tight room is equipped with 2 vents – one up and one down. In the Fall, they open the lower vent and close the upper one so that the outside air goes into the cold storage room and sinks. When the air in the storage room reaches the desired temperature, the bottom vent is also closed so it’s trapped in the room. Adjustments are made as the outside temperature changes with the seasons.

Their land is incredibly unique because they are quite literally right next door to the elementary school. It’s about 100 ft. from door-to-door for Ava on school days. And they have a wonderful view of Martock Ski Hill from all the windows on the other side of the house.

But they also have space for 32 chickens and 2 pigs (dubbed Snuffy and Wilber) that will find themselves contributing to their food supply. Did I mention Icecream and Milkshake, the pet goats? What about Banjo the puppy? They all find lots of room to peck, root, nibble, sniff, and roam around the property.

In the spring, they also planted a small orchard of 26 apple trees that will be fruitful for years to come.

There is a 100 x 100 ft. garden that will produce squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, strawberries and more.

And of course, all the herbs any chef would want in abundance like basil, parsley, sage, oregano and cilantro are also grown. In fact, the day rouge visited, Brendan turned a garbage bag full of basil into jars and jars of the best pesto I’ve ever tasted. It was hard to find room on the expansive countertops for them because of all the recent pickling and canning Lisa had just finished. A skill she learned from her Grandma.

Now, you can probably understand why the kitchen truly is the heart of this home. It features a beautiful, large custom-made table that can easily seat 10, a kid’s booth for arts and crafts (or extra seating while entertaining a big crowd), and a wall of windows that offer a spectacular view and tons of light.

Rouge is excited to help put the finishing touches on this kitchen – a little added storage, some increased functionality of what’s already there, and a little boost pull together the overall design. We’re inspired by the beautiful design and the commitment to living a more sustainable lifestyle.