Homes for the Holidays: Tour launches with sneak peek at Rideau River area mansion

Emma Porter can look at an intricately detailed walnut cupboard in her living room and memories of her Danish grandmother immediately spring to life.

The 150-year-old cupboard, a favourite piece of furniture in her ancestor’s home in Denmark, brings comfort. Call it a sense of place, a feeling of belonging.

Or the petite lawyer can glance at another wall in her sunny home near the Rideau River, focusing on a glass decanter that most certainly dispensed red wine to thirsty guests at the Porter’s Royal Hotel in Sierra Leone 150 years ago.

The large Rideau Cove Court home she shares with her partner, Les Dalzell, is filled with antiques. Some are family treasures, others were found at antique houses in Miami, New York City, west end Ottawa and antique barns across the Ottawa Valley.

Les Dalzell and Emma Porter see opening their home for the tour as a way to give back.

“The family heirlooms are a glimpse into my past, my roots. They all have meaning to me,” says Porter, who is an exotic blend of Danish roots and her father’s black heritage.

Adds Dalzell, a veteran sales representative for Euro Star Windows and a dedicated auction buff: “Then there are the untold stories behind antiques we found in shops and at Ottawa auctions. You wonder who once sat at a desk and wrote a letter with a quill pen and ink.”

The home sits on an acre that’s extensively landscaped near the Rideau River.

His family roots are not nearly as exotic as the woman he met in the light department of IKEA more than seven years ago. He travelled across Canada, living on military bases with his family, until he decided to put down roots in Ottawa at just 16.

Together they have combed shops, looking for treasures. “You never know what you are going to come across,” says Porter. “That’s the exciting part.”

The sprawling home boasts 7,000 square feet. ‘There was a big wow factor as soon as we walked in,’ says Les Dalzell.

They’re opening the doors to their collection for the 13th annual Homes for the Holidays Tour Nov. 13 to 15. The tour will see eight smart homes decorated for the holidays by top florists and designers, a pop up shop of holiday gifts at the Irish ambassador’s residence in Rockcliffe Park, and a craft market plus voting for the top gingerbread house and warm cider at the Ruddy-Shenkman Hospice in Kanata.

The centrepiece as you walk into the home is a 19th-century ivory Chinese urn.

The tour is a major fundraiser for Hospice Care Ottawa, an organization offering 19 hospice beds at the Hospice at May Court in Old Ottawa South and at Central West on Carling Avenue.

The tour, among the largest and most ambitious holiday home tours in the country, has raised more than $1.7 million to help fund services that include home support, day programs and bereavement groups. Along with a team of paid professionals, Hospice Care Ottawa relies heavily on more than 1,000 volunteers to deliver palliative care free of charge.

‘There is lots of light and very high ceilings,’ says Dalzell. ‘It is perfect for our antiques.’

The province covers only a portion of the operational costs, putting pressure on fundraising revenue. And the province does not cover any capital costs, including recent renovations to the Ruddy-Shenkman Hospice and a planned expansion to add 12 beds, due to start construction in the spring. The capital campaign needs an additional $1.5 million to top up $6 million already collected before construction begins.

“Anything we can do to help raise money for hospice is good,” says Dalzell. He was encouraged to open his home after learning about the generosity of Peter Foustanellas, owner of Olympia Homes and the developer who built Dalzell’s 7,000-square-foot home.

A walnut cupboard in the living room that once belonged to her Danish grandmother helps connect Emma Porter to her past.

“Peter is a very generous man with The Ottawa Hospital and the (University of Ottawa) Heart Institute,” says Dalzell. “His generosity inspired us. He passed on the torch to help.”

A decanter from Sierra Leone that her ancestors would have used at the Porter’s Royal Hotel also connects Porter to her father’s side of the family.

Dalzell and Porter were looking to buy a home in Manotick when they saw the sign for the brick home perched on the side of River Road. “There was a big wow factor as soon as we walked in,” says Dalzell. “There is lots of light and very high ceilings. It is perfect for our antiques. They sparkle, including 20 clocks. I have a thing for clocks.”

The two have spent many hours on the outside space as well, hiring landscapers to build a large stone retaining wall and iron fencing around the one-acre property and creating a pond and waterfall, along with lush grass separating large gardens.

The antique lovers have filled their home with family heirlooms and other treasures they’ve found, including 20 clocks.

Now, Porter is ready to pause on finding new additions for her home, mostly because her 92-year-old father recently moved into a retirement home nearby. He has several homes in Sierra Leone, she has a home near the Civic Campus of The Ottawa Hospital and there are properties in England.

Emma’s grandfather, Arthur Porter.

“I have to sort through the homes. There are a lot of treasures to discover.”

And more family memories to unearth.

Creating a sense of home

Dennis and Andrea Laurin are this year’s honorary chairs.

Home is vital for families, yet a sense of home is even more critical at the end of life, says Andrea Laurin, honorary co-chair of the 2015 Homes for the Holidays Tour.

“Many people want to be at home at the end of their life and the home environment of hospice care allows them to do just that.”

Laurin, along with husband Dennis, is heading up the 13th annual Homes for the Holidays Tour Nov. 13 to 15.

“The warm lights, familiar sounds and smells must be such a comfort to individuals and their family and friends at such a difficult time,” she adds. “A tour of homes in our community reminds us of the privilege of preparing for one’s eternal home, wherever an individual’s faith or beliefs may take them.”

Last year, the Laurins opened their own Rockcliffe Park home to more than 2,000 visitors over three days in a bid to raise funds for Hospice Care Ottawa, which runs 19 palliative beds and a collection of home support, day hospice and bereavement programs.

“At the end of the tour we returned home and did not know one person had been through our home, let alone more than 2,000,” says Dennis, owner of Laurin Construction. “It was an easy commitment, and it was an easy commitment when we were asked to be honorary chairs of the 2015 campaign.”

Laurin is the development brains behind many commercial projects, including shops at Lansdowne Park.

“Opening our home and other homes just makes so much sense,” says Andrea. “The 2015 home tour is simply an extension of the concept we agreed to in 2014.”

If you go

What: Homes for the Holidays tour of eight seasonally decorated homes from Rockcliffe Park to Kanata

When: Nov. 13 to 15

Extras: A holiday pop-up shop at the Irish ambassador’s residence in Rockcliffe Park; gingerbread builder’s bake-off and craft emporium at the Ruddy-Shenkman Hospice in Kanata

Tickets: $50, visit hospicecareottawa.ca