How did Kenneth Montague become both a dentist and one of the world’s most notable private collectors of Black art? The answer has everything to do with his Jamaican immigrant parents, who exposed him to the worlds of medicine and design. “My mom was a dietitian and my father was an industrial arts teacher who made beautiful furniture that I grew up with and still live with now,” Montague explains. “It’s not that strange that I’ve ended up being this dentist that collects art.”

The final piece of the puzzle is the location of Montague’s upbringing: Windsor, Ontario, a small Canadian city situated just across the river from Detroit, Michigan. “That place had a really vibrant, rich African American culture, which I was not getting growing up in Canada—we were the only Black family on the street,” he remembers. “But in Detroit, I got to go to the Institute of Arts, where I saw the photograph The Couple in Raccoon Coats by James Van Der Zee.” That Harlem Renaissance image impacted Montague, who at just 10 years old wished to live among such artworks. Half a century later, he has fulfilled his dream in the Toronto home he shares with his wife, visual artist and educator Sarah Aranha, and their two sons. The 1919 Arts and Crafts house, which was originally built by Eden Smith, was reimagined by architect Tura Cousins Wilson of SOCA to highlight Montague’s art collection—The Wedge Collection—and facilitate modern life.

“Over the years, Kenneth and I bonded over art and architecture chatting in his dental chair during appointments, so in many respects our synergy for design and style began long before this project,” says Cousins Wilson. “As the home doubles as a gallery for Kenneth’s Wedge art collection and Sarah’s home studio, select art pieces were often the starting point for how we wanted a room to look and feel. Throughout the design process we were continually exploring ways the collection could be viewed to create moments of intrigue for visitors and comfort for the Montague family.”

Montague likens the home to a hobbit house. “It has a peaked sloping roof, a chimney, and ivy on the front. But it was in complete disarray on the inside—everything was cracked and broken—so we had this ability to really redo it.” Cousins Wilson restored the historic façade, stripped the damaged interior to make way for contemporary finishes that support the art, and added a back extension to accommodate an eat-in kitchen, a family room, and a primary suite.