Exterior Colour Palette

Picking the exterior colour palette for Dunn House has been a joyful experience.  We knew all along that we would find our inspiration in the natural environment here on the Bonavista Peninsula.  We have loved discovering so many unique and beautiful palettes in the wild but after much consideration we settled on the prettiest muted green and blue for our exterior colours.

We are so grateful to the wonderful team at The Paint Shop in Bonavista who have been so helpful and have made the experience even more enjoyable.  We have selected Benjamin Moore stains and paints and the colours we have chosen are…

Clapboard:  Moonlight White

Window sashes:  Hollingsworth Green

Doors:  Serenata (blue)

It is very exciting to see the exterior house details come together.  Thank you so much to the Bonavista Living team for all of your hard work and perseverance on our project through the winter months.  Excited to share more soon.

Heritage Restoration

Our modern world is often busy, stressful and can sometimes be isolating too.  There are lots of tools to make life easier, quicker and more automated.  Like us, perhaps other people are also yearning for experiences which are more personal, tactile and have a human touch.  These are things Johnny and I think about often in our own creative practices.  It is so special to move to a place where there is such a thoughtful, handcrafted and carefully considered approach to revitalization, restoration and growth.  

One of the things which drew us to Bonavista was the work being done here to preserve and revitalize the town.  Many of the old buildings and houses have been lovingly restored as homes and businesses.  Skilled carpenters and craftsmen are working to create a bright and sustainable future for Bonavista. 

We recently visited the Bonavista Living wood shop to see the hand crafted heritage windows and doors in production for our new home, Dunn House.  The team have years of experience at their craft and they are also innovating, growing, evolving and passing on skills to the next generation.  

The vibe at both our house and in the wood shop is productive, light, optimistic and rewarding.  It is really special to be working with people who care so much about what they do.  We feel truly lucky to have this experience and be working with our amazing team.  

Discover more at www.bonavistaliving.com

Making a home in Bonavista

We first came to Bonavista together in 2017 when I was invited to Newfoundland to create a collection of wallpaper, and Johnny’s first visit was over 20 years ago when he backpacked and hitch hiked across the island.  We had no idea at the time, but little seeds had been planted. 

During the pandemic, we had a lot of conversations and reflections about the things that are important to us.  Like many people, we recognized how fleeting life can be and decided we would like to create something different for our next chapter.  We came back to Bonavista for 6 weeks in the summer of 2022 and during that trip, made our decision to make the move.  Our cross-Canada move from Ontario to Newfoundland has been a unique and life-changing journey of a lifetime.  

Bonavista is a truly special place, located within the spectacular UNESCO Discovery Global Geopark.  The Bonavista Peninsula is a region of wild, natural beauty and we regularly experience feelings of enchantment and wonder.  There is a well established arts and creative community here including Union House Arts in Port Union which I am thrilled to be a board member of.  There’s also the Bonavista Biennale, which is a public art event taking place every two years on the peninsula.  People here are authentic, kind, generous, hearty, soulful and have a great sense of humour.  We have made lots of new friends, some of whom have lived here their whole life and others who have moved here like us.  We are embracing any opportunity to have new experiences and learn about our new home. 

We acknowledge that the land we occupy is a part of Ktaqmkuk (the island of Newfoundland), traditional unceded Mi’kmaw territory. We also acknowledge with respect the diverse histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu and Inuit of this province.  We commit ourselves to learning and becoming better allies in the spirit of truth and reconciliation.  

We understand our responsibility to be a part of caring for this special place and feel incredibly grateful and lucky to be here.

Inspired by Nature

One of the most exciting parts of the creative process for our new home is selecting the exterior colour palette for the house.  Bonavista is an extremely colourful town and each home holds its own identity through carefully chosen colours.  

The restoration of Dunn House will include the installation of new wooden clapboard siding and new heritage style wooden windows and doors which are being handcrafted by the @bonavistaliving carpenters.  The roof will be refinished with cedar shingles, which once exposed to the elements will become a beautiful silvery colour.

We have the important task of selecting a colour palette for the exterior of the house which we love, and will compliment the other buildings in town whilst also respecting heritage traditions.  For @johnnycylam and I, it is meaningful for us to select colours inspired by our natural surroundings.  Since moving here, we have loved discovering so many unique and beautiful palettes in the wild.

Today we wanted to share some of the palettes which inspired us.  We look forward to sharing the colour palette we chose a little later on! 

November Updates

It has been a very busy time at Dunn House over the past 6 weeks and Johnny and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how this project has started.  It has been a flurry of activity at the house both inside and out and we are very happy to be sharing a few updates on the project so far.  

The Bonavista Living team have been working long days to make as much headway as possible before winter sets in.  Firstly, a lot of attention has gone to the two wings on either side of the house.  Each one had a linney on the back and unfortunately they were completely rotten through.  They have now been removed, new foundations poured and as you can see in the last photo, the wing on the left hand side of the house has been rebuilt with a beautiful new cedar roof.  The team are working on the same process for the wing on the right hand side.  

Inside the house, the team have been carefully working on structural repairs and reinforcements.  They have also framed out the rooms on the ground floor and are working on the upstairs too.

The house is also now getting stripped on the exterior as preparations are made for the installation of wooden clapboard and completing the whole roof with cedar shingles.

One of our favourite parts of the process so far have been site visits with the Bonavista Living team.  It is really special to see how much the crew care about the project and the experience is positive, jovial and collaborative. 

We feel gratitude and are embracing every part of the process!

Hello there…

As we are sharing our journey to build our home and creative work spaces, we thought we would take a moment to introduce ourselves.

For those of you who have been following along, you likely already know that I am a surface pattern and wallpaper designer.  My husband Johnny C.Y. Lam is a photographer and a regular contributor to The Globe and Mail.  Johnny and I met in Toronto in 2011 when we were set up on the very best blind date by a dear friend.

After leaving Toronto and living for many years in Prince Edward County and the area, we relocated to Bonavista, Newfoundland in May 2023.  We are both immigrants to Canada, with Johnny having moved here from Hong Kong with his family when he was a teenager, and I moved here from England when I was 21.  My whole family is still in England, so I have a special connection there.  We feel very lucky to call Canada our home.

Johnny and I both thrive in nature, where we feel most creative and inspired.  Carving out a life which embraces our passions and allows for freedom and imagination is important to us both.  We are thrilled to be building a new life in Newfoundland and feel so lucky to have received a warm welcome by our new community here.

Discover more about Johnny and his work here.

Before

As designs and plans come together for the restoration of Dunn House, we are excited to share with you some before images. 

The house is already a hive of activity as work gets underway to make progress before the winter.  We are thrilled to working with Bonavista Living to restore the house, preserving what is possible and creating new spaces whilst honouring and respecting the heritage and history of the past. 

We look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming weeks and months. Thank you for following along on our journey.

Dunn House

It has been almost 18 months since we moved to Bonavista, Newfoundland and we are thrilled to share some very exciting news with you! 

Johnny C.Y. Lam and I recently purchased Dunn House located in Bonavista and are delighted to be working with Bonavista Living on a full heritage restoration of the house, which will become our home and our creative work space.  This is a very exciting project for us and we feel so happy and lucky to be working with the most special team of skilled carpenters and craftsmen.

The exact date of the house's original centre structure is not known, but the house was purchased by the Dunn family in the 1920s.  It was at this time that they added the dormers to the roof, the wings on the right and left, and also the front vestibule.  The house has a beautiful symmetry to it. 

We look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming weeks and months. Thank you for following along on our journey.