Toronto lifestyle content creator and her husband were determined to own a Victorian-style house but the one they found needed work

Toronto lifestyle content creator Soheila Hakimi-Weiers and her husband Adam Weiers were determined to own a Victorian-style house. When they started house-hunting in Toronto three years ago, prices were high and bidding wars fierce. After more than half a year of looking at dozens of houses, and 11 failed bids, they succeeded.
“I have this Victorian obsession,” says Hakimi-Weiers. “The house we bought was a Romanesque Victorian and so beautiful. It had orange brick, archways, original decorative ceiling medallions and some original windows. I fell in love with the features.”
The house had been divided into two units, and the couple wanted to turn it back into a single-family home. Their small reno snowballed into a large one. The main-floor floors were “wavy” — they discovered it was due to a load-bearing wall being removed in the basement.
“A key milestone was getting a structural engineer to help us out with our plans,” says Weiers. “Only then could we map out a strategy. We had to do a lot of structural work. A big problem in Toronto houses, is that people take out load-bearing walls.” The basement had to be underpinned, with steel posts installed to support the upper floors.
The couple divided the work into phases. On the main floor, they removed a bedroom and bathroom, created a powder room and a spacious kitchen. On the second floor, they added bedrooms to have three, and a walk-in closet.
The couple got hands-on, doing demo work, installing sister joints and flooring, and doing the framing. They hired professional contractors for other aspects. Weiers had never done reno work before, and prior, his wife “didn’t know how to use a mitre saw.” While work was in progress, they got married in Italy in September 2023 and welcomed a baby boy in May. Finishing the basement is underway. Its ceilings went from six feet to about 8.5 ft., with new drains, waterproofing and radiant floor heating installed.
Despite the chaos, they enjoyed their home makeover.
“I had a lot of fun doing it,” says Hakimi-Weiers. “I love these Victorian homes and wish people took care of them.”