69 Campbell Crescent, Kingston, ON K7M 1Z6

I could spend several contented lifetimes moving Danish teak furniture around the Jetson-esque geometries at the stylish sidesplit that is parked roadside at 69 Campbell Crescent in Kingston’s Polson Park neighbourhood. A form of mid-century Tetris, if you will. Or a test of mental function for an unhinged president. Take your pick. I am reminded strongly here of a ski chalet, only with a carport standing in for the lift. It’s that oak-floored living room, I think, the high-ceilinged wedge of it, with its gas fireplace and the sliding doors out to the large deck and garden. It is a lounge that feels custom-built for mulled wine and boiled wool sweaters, the synthetic rub of expensive snowpants and the easy laughter of people with good knees and even better teeth. There are two bedrooms on the upper level, and a third downstairs, across from the rec room (or even fourth bedroom). You can be together or apart, in other words. There are two bathrooms, also well-separated, and a further level at the very bottom of the house that was most recently used as a luthier’s workshop. The rolling trolleys and storage racks will stay behind, like a collection of primitive go-karts. The kitchen is original, but stainless appliances have been installed and you’ll want to build around those, is my bet. There is a gas boiler, as well as heat pump mini-splits, and even a generator back-up in case of dark times ahead. The house could use a polish, a sympathetic pair of hands, sure, but it’s a home has been used respectfully and well over the years, and the bones, as they like to say, are wicked.