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.