Page 72 - 03-May-2024

But then they meet Soneff, who in this case lives two neighbourhoods north in Garneau, and realize he’s just like them. And whatever animosity remains melts away when he sics his curious kid on them. “One neighbour, across the alley, she researches wildlife. And my six- year-old went over to ask her questions about coyotes and stuff. And I think it was helpful for her to be like, Oh, he’s just another human being. He doesn’t actually have horns.”
Matthew Carr has a bunch of horns. Deer, a Capricorn goat and a bull all intersperse among his tattooed arms, but he jokes that the “only demons are my personal ones.” Six years ago, he and fiancé David Roettger (also inked) moved into the house that stood on this spot since the 1950s, because they liked the neighbourhood, the home’s proximity to Whyte Avenue, transit and the fact they could afford it, even knowing it was the definition of a “fixer upper.”
“In the initial few years, we were like, ‘Oh, we could fix this, or put a bathroom here,’” Roettger says. “But there were constantly wet corners, some asbestos, and the foundation was cracked. Then we found out the lot value was essentially what we paid for the house, so [rebuilding] was kind of like getting a free house.”
On their regular Whyte Avenue walks, the couple noticed other ArtHouse-made homes. And after touching base with a few builders, they were surprised to find that a “soulless” spec house would actually cost more than taking the custom route. “From what I can tell, it’s because they invest a lot in showy things, like expensive counter- tops, fixtures and siding, that attract you in,” Roettger says. “But what turned us
off was that it was all very attractively neutral. Whereas we really like things like pink railings.”
The pink railings enclose the split-level home’s living room landing, which sits above the very custom — and instructive
72 EDify. MAY.24