Brian loved physical spaces – their aesthetics, their function, and the engineering that made them possible.  It’s unsurprising that he was constantly customizing the spaces he (and those around him) used and lived in.  None of the homes he and Judy owned were spared renovation.  When not altering his own space, he was often providing advice or detailed designs for friends and family.

Starting with their first house, Brian and Judy’s life together included many, many renovations.  The house in Wildwood Park, Winnipeg had been badly damaged in the 1950 flood.  The neighbours must have thought these were some crazy kids, with their loud rock and roll music played while they stripped the house down to its bones.  Shingles, flooring, walls – very little was spared Improvement.  Of course, it wasn’t until after all the drywall was on that the old plumbing started to fail… once more, into the renovations!

In Saskatoon, a casual discussion of the benefits of a walkout basement one day turned into a bobcat and workers in the yard the next.  Renovations had begun again.

The house on Mahony Crescent was more than just Renovation. In what was supposed to be a lull between jobs, Brian designed the house.  However, none of the local builders were willing to build it – the design was too weird, using cantilevers and including strange “environmental” concepts.  Brian ended up recruiting family to help him build the house.  That came with its own challenges.  From his father in law who liked to start bright and early in the morning, to his brother and sister-in-law who would work late at night, Brian was kept busy almost around the clock.  Grayden could sometimes be kept occupied with his miniature hammer and a can of nails – until he found a “hard nail” (eg, one that actually hit a joist instead of just the plywood) – but at other times, when asked to run an errand, Grayden would stress everyone by simply leaning out from the second floor structure to shout the message down.  Brian was afraid Grayden would fall off.  In the end, it was Brian that fell off the house.  Twice.  The most dramatic saw him fall while caulking some of the highest windows inside the house, through a missing flight of stairs, through another (not missing) flight of stairs and into the basement.  The trip to the hospital and the stitches received were viewed as a distraction, with Brian returning to the construction later that night.

The hard work was worth it though.  Mahony would be the family home for 34 years.  A house far ahead of it’s time, it included energy efficiency and passive solar principles that to this day still aren’t mainstream, and had a look that remains surprisingly modern over 40 years later.  Of course, being his house and his design, Brian felt incredibly comfortable there – but he could also see each element that he considered a flaw.  What did that mean?  More renovations!

The last big renovation was Pinky – Brian & Judy’s home in Mesa.  Pinky was so named because everything in the house – and outside the house – was pink.  So hideous, buyers were scared away, Brian & Judy took the opportunity to turn it into Their home – a fully renovated, modern house suited to their tastes.  And now, only the front door is pink – as a reminder of what it once was.

When he wasn’t renovating, Brian was often designing or advising on something for someone else.  Grayden’s triplex has seen endless work and renovations, guided by sometimes frantic calls to Brian.  In fact, Brian’s first visit to Montreal found him sitting in the crawlspace, hand wrapped around the main water entry trying to slow the leak in the old lead pipe while Grayden ran to the local hardware store (five minutes before closing) to find something – anything – to stop the leak.

Brian also designed a home for Murray & Susanne. One of his last major projects was an art studio for Kimberly Kiel Reynolds.  He took great pleasure in seeing her joy at working in the space.  Making people happy through well designed spaces continued to give him fulfilment even as his health challenges made it increasingly hard to enjoy his days.