A defiantly non-traditional Forest Hill home with generation-spanning art and furniture By Victoria Webster
(Images: Michael Graydon)
From the outside, Steven and Lynda Latner’s Georgian-style Forest Hill home looks discreet, quietly set back from the street. But open the door and it’s another story: front and centre is a large wave drawing by the Californian contemporary artist Raymond Pettibon, and around the corner there’s a graphic Roy Lichtenstein rug. Vinyl text art decorates the dining room wall, a purple pool table shares the library with a blaring video installation, and, yes, that’s a Kandinsky above the mantel.
The Latners have known each other since their Camp Wahanowin days in the 1950s and have been married for nearly 40 years (the last of their four grown children just left home). They’re devoted to the city’s art scene and to running their respective businesses: Lynda owns a vintage designer clothes Web site (and has an in-store boutique at Holt Renfrew), and Steven is a director of his family’s real estate and development business.
Lynda’s elegant, reserved demeanour balances her husband’s slightly more madcap ways. “Steve has a continuous, keen curiosity about everything,” she says. “So we go through major phases of collecting, and then we edit.” Much of their furniture came from Steven’s father, Albert, who is also a collector: in the ’60s, he decorated his Davisville office with mid-century modern pieces now considered museum-worthy. When Albert later switched to a heavier English look, a 20-something Steven happily inherited the cast-offs; the Castiglioni lamp and Le Corbusier club chairs and couch were among the loot.
The stainless steel Arco floor lamp is a signature 1962 piece by Castiglioni.
Lynda began to collect 1930s Clarice Cliff pottery when she bought two vases in London in 1973 for just five pounds each; they are now worth much more.
Wassily Kandinsky’s Fan Like, Rhythm.
While travelling in England in the ’80s, Steven’s father purchased this antique marble mantel for his son’s new home and shipped it to Toronto.
The 1955 George Nelson coconut chair is from Ross Young, an antiques dealer who used to have a store on Beverley Street.
Steven, a lifelong hunter, shot this buck at the family farm in King Township four years ago. Originally, they hung it in the third-floor hunting room, but the Latners now see it as a piece of art. “It was an unusual addition, but it enhanced the eclecticism of the room,” says Lynda.
The matching Grand Confort Le Corbusier chairs and sofa are from 1928 and were a gift from Steven’s father.
The glass-top coffee table is a 1940s original by Isamu Noguchi. The Latners purchased it 25 years ago, from Ross Young.
The black and white photos behind Lynda are stills from a short film by L.A.–based artist Mike Kelley, titled Domestic Scene. The three sculptures on the pedestals behind Steven are also part of the installation.
The wool carpet is a 1960s design by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.
The handmade wire Bertoia Diamond chair, a 1953 design, was also from Ross Young.
Steven had most of their fixtures and hardware nickel-plated, including the dining room doorknobs. He was tempted to plate their vintage home phone, but his contractor talked some sense into him.
Lynda bought this art deco mohair fabric 28 years ago at Secondhand Rose, a vintage store in New York. She put it aside until she found the ideal chairs to reupholster.
The deep purple glass chandeliers are adorned with Murano glass daffodils.
The Latners became fans of propaganda art during a trip to China in 2004. They bought the four Maoist figurines in Shanghai.
The wall installation is by their friend Lawrence Weiner, known for his text-based art. Steven chose the phrase—”An arch afforded in a wall of stone with a keystone of chalk and imposts of slate”—for the architectural reference.
Next to a set of six silver candlesticks is a plastic wedding cake topper from their daughter’s recent bridal shower.
The couple had been searching for the right bathroom vanity for months when they stumbled upon this unusual all-in-one ceramic lamp and sink design, by Jaime Hayón.
The leafy bathroom wallpaper was designed by Thomas Demand, who creates photorealistic effects by shooting paper cut-outs. This special edition, called Ivy, is from the Serpentine Gallery gift shop in London, England.
