Modern Architecture in Forest Hill: Russell Hill Residence

In Toronto's Forest Hill, a neighbourhood defined by its stately limestone facades and quiet, tree-lined streets, new construction is rarely welcomed lightly. Every addition is measured against a century of precedent. The Russell Hill Road Residence enters that conversation with confidence, choosing not to imitate its neighbours but to speak their language fluently, in a voice entirely its own.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Completed in 2018 by Taylor Smyth Architects in collaboration with Cecconi Simone, the 5,700-square-foot home occupies the same footprint as the house that stood there. It is a project less about starting over than about continuing a story, one told through stone, light, and careful proportion.

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The home's street presence begins with material choices that feel instinctively right for the neighbourhood. Large slabs of Indiana Limestone rise above a base of split-faced Ontario Algonquin stone, a pairing that immediately roots the house in Forest Hill's established vocabulary. It is a quiet nod to the streetscape rather than a loud departure from it, allowing the home to settle comfortably between its older neighbours.

Look closer, though, and the contemporary hand becomes clear. Limestone projections wrap the windows and copings with a precision that catches shadow differently throughout the day, breaking up what could otherwise be a flat, uniform wall. It is a subtle reinterpretation of a detail found on the surrounding century-old homes, rendered in a sharper, more modern line. The house doesn't shout for attention; it simply rewards a second look.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

That same Algonquin stone carries the composition beyond the front door. Its rugged texture reappears on the garden walls, while a sandblasted version forms the paving and the broad steps leading up to the entrance, grounding the home in its landscape before a visitor ever crosses the threshold. Around back, the stone resurfaces once more, cladding the wall behind the swimming pool and tying the entire property together as one continuous material story.

Step inside, and the home reveals its real ambition: an interior shaped almost entirely by how light moves through it. The dining room runs the length of a linear skylight, filling the space with a steady wash of daylight overhead. A series of pivoting doors allows the room to open directly into the kitchen, transforming the pair into one expansive gathering space that seats up to 30 people, built for the entertaining that spills easily from one room to the next.

At the rear of the house, the living room takes the idea of light even further. Sixteen feet of ceiling height gives the room an unexpected sense of volume, while clerestory windows on three sides pull daylight in from angles a standard room would never see. A continuous wall of glass completes the space, opening onto a covered patio shaded by a deep overhang and, just beyond it, a swimming pool that stretches the length of the terrace. Indoors and outdoors blur into a single, uninterrupted living space.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Where the architecture provides the framework, Cecconi Simone's interiors bring the warmth. Bronze privacy screens, rich wood panelling, and custom built-in millwork appear throughout the home, adding texture and a sense of permanence to every room. These are not decorative flourishes but considered, load-bearing elements of the home's character, each one built to be lived with rather than looked at.

The result is a house that feels less like a single grand gesture and more like the product of two disciplines working in constant conversation. Architecture and interior design were never treated as separate stages here, but as one continuous act of shaping how a family will actually live within these walls.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

The Russell Hill Road Residence is a reminder that respecting a neighbourhood's history and building something genuinely new are not opposing goals. By working within an established material palette while pushing its detailing forward, Taylor Smyth Architects and Cecconi Simone have delivered a home that belongs to Forest Hill's past and its future at once, a quiet, confident addition to a streetscape built to last another century.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

Russell Hill Residence. Photography by Ben Rahn / A-Frame Inc.

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About Michael Taylor Architecture + Design

While the Russell Hill Road Residence was completed during his 25-year tenure at Taylor Smyth Architects (which he co-founded in 2000), Michael Taylor now carries that legacy forward through his eponymous Toronto-based studio, Michael Taylor Architecture + Design (MTA+D).

What sets Taylor’s practice apart is a philosophy clearly visible in the Russell Hill project: the seamless, uninterrupted integration of architecture and interior design under a single creative vision. Operating out of an open-studio environment, Taylor takes a deeply hands-on approach to custom residential architecture. He remains intimately involved from the very first conversation to long after construction is complete, treating every project as a close collaboration designed to translate a client’s unique perspective into built form.

With a Master of Architecture from Harvard University and over three decades of experience, Taylor has completed dozens of highly customized homes, ranging from modern ravine estates to rural waterfront cottages. His work has garnered over 25 awards for design excellence—including three from the Ontario Association of Architects—but his ultimate measure of success remains constant: crafting warm, welcoming, and livable environments that perfectly reflect the people who live in them.