May 8, 2004.

Home is where you park it

Beloved vintage Airstream trailer finds a new home inside artist's condo loft
Owner built bedroom and office in loft over main floor

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Have you ever spotted something at a garage sale or antique shop you just had to have, even though it wasn't that practical?

When Toronto visual artist Burke Paterson caught sight of a silver 1963 Airstream Globe Trotter trailer for sale on the side of a road near Buffalo several years ago, he just knew that had to have it, and figured he would find a good place to put it.

But everyone knows the parking situation is pretty tight in Toronto, so Paterson did what few would ever do.

He found a home for it right inside his work/live condominium just off Dupont St., west of Lansdowne.

Even though Paterson's condominium measures only 850 square feet, he had no trouble moving the trailer in because of the 16-foot-ceilings.

That and the fact that he was able to drive the 19-foot-long trailer right through the sliding garage door at the front of the condo.

Yes, it fits perfectly, although at first glance, it's a bit of a shock to see the silver/grey trailer sitting slam-dunk in the middle of the loft.

Paterson bought the condo in October 2001. All it contained at the time was a bathroom with a sink and toilet and air conditioning.

With the help of friend and architect Graham Smith, of Altius Design Studio Inc., he erected the loft that houses his bedroom and office and sits above the kitchen area. Steel beams support the paralam wood and Douglas fir loft. An angled staircase, also Douglas fir, leads up to it.

"The loft is so solid you could park a car up there,'' says Paterson. However, he has chosen a slightly roomier spot down on the main level for his much-loved trailer. Paterson first spotted it for sale on a road near Buffalo for $2,800 (U.S.). What convinced him to buy, was the fact that, "as soon as I stepped into it, I could stand up in it." (Paterson is 6-foot-3.)

Originally, he lived in the trailer while renovating the loft. "The trailer was my refuge because everything else was a disaster. I came in here to be clean. I kept everything I wanted to be clean in here or in the refrigerator. This is basically my change room now and my bedroom for guests."

Indeed, there is a bed as well as several dressers from Paterson's parents' home (lime green and white cast plastic). He has removed the original 40-year-old fridge, sink and hot water heater from the trailer.

Paterson has done most of the work in the loft himself, not just the construction, but he has also morphed certain scavenged objects together and created new objects and uses for them. For instance, an old apothecary cabinet has been rejigged so that it now houses all of his tools. An antique icebox holds his stereo system.

He was never formally taught how to do any of the work; he simply realized how much was possible through his own art creations.

"I grew up in a house where we hired people to put up the new brass numbers for the house,'' he says with a laugh. "Nobody knew how to do anything. I learned most of this stuff through friends and making art because each new sculpture project requires me to learn a new skill."

Paterson needed a place where he could work as an artist, specializing in photography and sculpture. He's also a visual arts instructor at Havergal College in Toronto.

"There are tons of lofts in this city,'' he says. "Finding a loft where you can turn on a power saw inside is the big challenge, a place where you have...the facilities to get things in and out (the garage door). But the neighbours can hear me when I am drilling and sawing so I have to be respectful."

The kitchen is a blend of old and new. For instance, a tall LGE refrigerator from Korea, which Paterson says he needs for his height, stands in the midst of old and new counters and sinks.

Paterson purchased his kitchen sink from Ikea, but the countertop was taken from an old science sink scavenged from the University of Buffalo. Storage in the kitchen and in the rest of the loft is a diverse blend of drawers, shelves, cupboards and cabinets scavenged from different work sites. They hold everything from kitchen implements to sculpture tools.

The kitchen and bathroom are separated by P95 acrylic windows, which resemble frosted glass. Paterson has managed to bring a bit of his work at Havergal home with him, too. The walls of his bathroom are the old marble walls from one of the washrooms at the school that was removed several years ago. The bathroom sink is the sink from the trailer. Mirrors for the bathroom were scavenged from a nearby work site several years ago. Windows in the condo are huge, covered in corrugated plastic for privacy, with blinds from Home Depot.

Furniture is an eclectic blend of family heirlooms and items from garage sales and second-hand stores. For instance, Paterson uses an old airline food cart for storage in his kitchen.

His liquor cabinet is an old filing cabinet that had been discarded on a nearby street. Many of his grandmother's heirlooms dot the loft -- everything from an antique radio on a kitchen shelf, to the grey Arborite kitchen table and orange vinyl chairs. Many of his light fixtures come either from antique stores in Buffalo or Ikea.

His living room coffee table is an industrial wooden cart on rollers from the Massey-Ferguson building.

Patersons' own artwork also fills the condo. A huge sculpture constructed from a tree trunk carved into three slabs, its pieces hanging like raw meat off a rack, adorns one corner. Above the trailer hangs a birch bark hockey net. Paterson also has a number of cast-aluminum toaster sculptures (some on steel springs) around his loft.

Paterson is holding a photography show in his loft, opening today, with photographer Glenn Novak, and yes, that means he's going to have to move the trailer out so that the photographs can be displayed.

His next project is to build an area with proper ventilation so he can weld his sculptures. From there, he has plans to polish the trailer.

-Georgie Binks