 6 NEW HOMES & CONDOSPRINCESS MARGARET SWEEPSTAKESIt's where you want to beOakville prize home exudes European charmDIANNE DANIEL Special to QMI AgencyStepinside the Princess Margaret Foundation Welcome Home Sweepstakes show home in Oakville, Ontario, and you might just forget where you are for a second. You might even envision vineyards, rolling hills and trickling streams. That's because the House & Home design team, led by designer/stylist Trish Johnston, has transformed the $3.999-million prize home into a European-style country house with all the charm of the Italian or French Riviera. "The devil's in the details; you have to get all of those right to get the correct feel," notes Johnston, whose team hand-picked everything in the home, from finishes and furnishings down to the smallest of accessories. The transformation begins the moment you pull up in the driveway and are greeted by gorgeous mahogany garage doors and glistening windows banked by custommade working shutters. When you're finished admiring the landscape, designed by landscape architect Ron Holbrook and supplied by Coivic Contracting Ltd., the foyer is ready to greet you with a warm Chevron oak flooring and wooden chandelier. The light and airy interior is full of textures, from the leather Ralph Lauren safari chairs in the great room and the natural stone flooring in the laundry, kitchen and baths, to the beams in the dining room and the panelled moulding in the study. Meanwhile, the queensized bed in the upstairs guest room is upholstered in a burlap fabric that is mirrored in the drapery to give a sense of "pretty, but not too sweet." In the kitchen, an antique mustard finish on the kitchen cabinetry is paired with honed black Caesarstone counter and black hardware, but the "absolute jewel," says Johnston, is the CornuFé range, "a piece of art that you cook on." Every room is a great size, featuring 10-foot ceilings and a good dose of natural light. The overall theme is traditional with a few splashes of contemporary styling here and there to give it a bit of an edge, she says. "When you get that tension, you get this great juxtaposition of the modern added in with the traditional," says Johnston. Builder Carlos Jardino, president of Project & Construction Management Inc. (PMC), the company responsible for overall construction, compares the home to "fine dining," noting that every material used is first class, right down to the hinges on the white oak interior doors. "Once you see them and feel them you know they're not your regular doors," he says. "My crew is on a quality diet, all of the time." A big part of what makes the home so exceptional is the oversized lot, a rare find in Oakville with its 111-foot frontage and 148foot depth, he adds. "This is probably the best location to date." Additional highlights of the 6,800square foot, four-bedroom home include a wine tasting room adjacent to the basement level media room, a dream laundry room that makes a chore seem like fun, and an indoor sauna. The best part, says Johnston, is that with mature trees front and back, it feels like it's been part of the neighbourhood forever. "We want people to walk into this space and say, 'This is where I want to be,'" she says. Located at 1259 Braeside Drive in Oakville, the prize home is open for viewing weekdays from 4 to 8 p.m., and weekends and holidays from noon to 5 p.m. It is awarded fully furnished, decorated and landscaped, along with a $25,000 cash prize. Welcome Home Sweepstakes tickets are $100 each or three for $250 and are available at www.helpconquercancer.ca or by calling 1-866-631-1234. The Toronto Sun n SEPTEMBER 30 & OcTOBER 2, 2011
You need to upgrade your Flash Player
You need to upgrade the version of your Flash Player to version 9 minimum. Click here Adobe Flash Player Download Center |