Kathryn Botsford’s home, including her bathroom, used to be stuffed with refurbished furniture and collectables.
“My passion had gone crazy,” she jokes. It was time to fulfil a dream and go into business.
Along with her now husband, Andrew Dymecki, Botsford chose a location on Yonge Street — near the Rosedale subway station — and Belle Epoque was born 16 years ago. The store specializes in what Kathryn calls “Euro pop” — think Louis XVI meets Andy Warhol. There’s the French traditional chair with a hot pink seat, a baroque mirror painted a dazzling white, an English-style button-tufted sofa in gold lamé, and coloured hanging drum lights covered in goose feathers.
In some ways, the shop is a microcosm of the neighbourhood — a mixture of old family businesses and newer, colourful establishments. It fits in perfectly with other numerous home decor and antique stores in the area.
Despite being surrounded by million-dollar homes, these and other area businesses are not “snobby” Dymecki insists, adding that local proprietors work long, hard hours.
“Every store has a story,” says Dymecki. He points out the first Roots shop, now renovated and home to J. F. Brennan Design. The piano store, Paul Hahn & Co., has been in the area since 1913.
“During the Olympics, they brought a piano onto the street and started playing O Canada, filling onlookers with pride,” says Dymecki. “It was a scene from the 1940s when there was a more romantic view of the world.”
The old Rainbow Room, reputed to draw the likes of Carol Pope and David Bowie in the ’60s and ’70s, has morphed into the fashionable Philosophy hair design.
“I’m so glad that this neighbourhood hasn’t succumbed to massive chain store invasion like so many other Toronto neighbourhoods,” Dymecki says.
There’s a definite international flavour here. Le Petit Gourmet, for example, is a great place to pick up a croissant or crème brulee, while for lunch Dymecki often finds a seat at Café Doria, a bustling Italian eatery.
On the way home, he might pick up rib eye steaks to barbecue from Olliffe then choose his favorite Cline Zinfandel California wine at the historic LCBO, a converted railway station. Coco & Jules and French Country are two of Dymecki’s favourite spots to buy gifts; one recent purchase was a mother-of-pearl bracelet for Botsford.
Just down the street from the couple’s shop is Ramsden Park, home of the annual Maple Leafs outdoor hockey practice, sure to draw a throng of spectators. In summer, it’s a beautiful spot for Botsford or Dymecki to bring their dogs and enjoy the greenery or smell the roses. This is, after all, Rosedale.
