Full Circle

STORY RACHAEL HAVENS PHOTOGRAPHY SANDY MACKAY
BOTANICAL DÉCOR GREEN LOVE

Jonathan and Johanna Noble met in high school, and their first project together was a snow fort. This was not your average fort – it involved a 25-foot tunnel, reinforced with sticks. They also built treehouses for their younger siblings. “You gotta start somewhere,” laughs Johanna.

Now, many years and three kids later, building custom homes has become their new tradition with their decade-old business, Noblecraft. Building and renovating is not only their business, but their hobby and passion. Johanna, now a designer, has been planning her dream house since she was a child. “I’ve been a carpenter my whole life, and Johanna’s been a designer her whole life,” adds Johnathan. Together, they were brought in to renovate this Meaford home back in 2017.

The home may be modern in design, but it has a long family history for the homeowners – a couple from Rockwood looking to settle where he grew up. The homeowner’s father worked at the woolen mill in town, which was owned by Frank Pearlman – who lived in this very house. Talk about full circle.

The homeowners purchased the home in 2004 and renovated parts of it themselves over the past decade. They say it was a “hodge podge of a house” and the challenge was to make it cohesive. They found two layers of flooring, several ceilings and two different roofs, four inches apart – prompting them to realize it was time for a complete overhaul. 

Enter Noblecraft.

The homeowners say Jonathan and Johanna are the perfect team. The two couples were consistently on the same page – when both pulled up photos of their visions for the staircase, they were identical. “A house that looks like this needs a staircase that is unique,” says Johanna. She adds they were aiming for unpredictability, “so you’re curious what is around the next corner.”

“The best piece of advice if you’re going to take on a big project is to like the people you’re working with,” says Jonathan. Another key to a great project is great trades. Jonathan and Johanna have been building their relationship with local trades throughout the years.

One of their main collaborators is Millard Bautista Designs – artists, say the homeowners. They built the vanities, office, library and kitchen. The countertops are granite from Di Pietra Design. Building and other supplies came from Knights’ Home Building Centre and Fulfords Kitchenware-Bathware-Hardware. Sean Coll did the drywall. Engineered hardwood was sourced at Dean’s Carpet One Floor and Home while the windows and doors are from Van Dolder’s Custom Exteriors. Electrical is by Alex Jaffray at Ridge and River and Cook’s Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning took care of the heating and plumbing. 

Another key trade at the heart of the project was Luke Williams of Williams Outdoor Inc., who completed the landscaping at the waterfront home. Dan Crossley Stucco completed the tinted stucco. Bill Kirkham of DJ Peat Roofing & Sheet Metal was the flat roof expert who ensured views from the upper floor of the home. He also completed the metalwork on the exterior, and the homeowners were impressed by his ability to “visualize in three dimensions.”

NobleCraft was certainly the crowning jewel of the project for the homeowners, ensuring the renovation was stress-free. “We were able to trust our contractors. They just had so much attention to detail... it’s like it’s handcrafted. They were perfectionists,” they say. Jonathan knows, “A lot of people say that when married people work together, it doesn’t work – but it’s our medicine.” The homeowners spent 40 years in business together, too, proving that this home was made possible by two strong couples who made a truly strong team.

Now that their renovation is complete, the homeowners are enjoying life in Meaford. They have a daughter who lives in London, England, and a son who bought their former home in Rockwood. Both kids love “The Meaf.” The homeowners take advantage of just about every local activity you can think of – from skiing and snowshoeing to golfing and biking plus kayaking and canoeing. One dabbles in landscape photography and the other is a member of the local men’s “book club” with high school friends from the mid-1970s.

Before they married, the couple visited the Beaver Valley together and said, “One day, we’d really like to have a tree farm up here.” Now, within a mile of that very spot, they have a woodlot. This is where they come to hike, as well as enjoy fires and picnics. They are very at home in Meaford, saying, “It’s the place where we belong.”