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Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Interior Designer/ Designer: Henrietta Southam Design
Photographer Credit: Marc Fowler

Papermill Safari is a reimagined build of a 1920s red brick home in a historical enclave in Canada’s Capital. Sitting near a river that once carried logs to the nearby paper mills, this home by Henrietta Southam Design is an homage to the industry of the historical area while also catering to the intent to make the space warm and inviting. This is the fourth historical house that Henrietta Southam Design has transformed in this small heritage overlay area, with the absolute conviction that they have given each one a new lease on life while respecting the language and volumes of the era they were built in.

The home needed to work for a blended family, so Henrietta Southam Design redistributed all spaces in order to adapt to the evolving family’s whims and wishes, providing everyone with their own space as well as calming communal areas. This meant finding space to add bedrooms and bathrooms for each child while tailoring the spaces to their ages and needs whilst allowing for more sibling and parental peace and autonomy. The new spatial reconfiguration connects the kitchen with the living areas in an open-plan layout.

An earthy palette and layered, natural textures run through the home and become paramount in the kitchen. The space is warm, calm, and grounded, with the 10-foot sculptural sequoia slab of the island forming a centrepiece. Burnt red clay is the thread of colour infused in the predominantly creamy interiors, where layers of papier-mâché, cord, driftwood, cane and wool crafted by various nomadic tribes lend the warmth and surprise of another worldly adventure. Connected to the kitchen is the breakfast nook, where a high level of detail provides a quieter area for the family whilst complementing the lighter tones of the kitchen marble. The semi-round darns for the dining space place an emphasis on the curves, and its white finish provides a harmonising opposition to the sharp angles and black finishes of the kitchen.

For Henrietta, the motive of design is not “go big or go home” but rather “stay true to stay home”. The success of Papermill Safari is in the details and thoughtfulness of the design; each design choice has been highly considered to make this a layered, comfortable, yet impactful residence.