Like a bespoke suit that鈥檚 perfectly measured, cut and tailored, this elegant penthouse, recently purchased by a Calgary couple, has a refined and chic ambience.
While handsome to begin with, the condo was customized with about $120,000 worth of improvements that included reconfiguring the den, changing appliances and adding custom cabinets, beds, storage units, side tables and a large entry closet.
Finding a stylish condo with a huge terrace, high-quality construction and reasonable strata fees in a small-village atmosphere may sound like a tall order.
But the Calgary couple found all this in a new building by Abstract Developments at the corner of Oak Bay Avenue and Foul Bay Road, on the cusp of Oak Bay and Victoria.
The penthouse 鈥� one of 22 condos and five ground-floor commercial units in the building 鈥� already had engineered oak hardwood floors, radiant heat, three-metre ceilings, air conditioning, skylights, triple glazed floor-to-ceiling windows, power blinds, Control-4 smarthome technology, a sound system and much more, but the Calgarians didn鈥檛 want to bring in a lot of furniture. They wanted built-ins.
The result is a made-to-measure suite in a city that fits them like a glove.
鈥淲e think Victoria is the best place on Earth,鈥� said Don and Lynne, who asked to keep their last name private.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not old enough to retire yet [and] our kids are still young and centred in Alberta,鈥� but the process of moving closer to retirement is accelerating, Don said from Calgary. 鈥淚t鈥檚 getting harder and harder to rationalize not being in Victoria. I feel more and more pulled every day.鈥�
Lynne agreed: 鈥淭his penthouse is wonderful and Victoria is such a pleasant 12-month environment. It鈥檚 snowing here, the roads are icy and slippery, but in Victoria, you can walk and play golf all year. It鈥檚 so easy to get around.鈥�
Don said people in Victoria are 鈥渇antastically interesting and some of the nicest we鈥檝e ever met.鈥�
Anticipating retirement and motivated by the U.S. real-estate crash, he and his wife embarked on an intensive search for homes in Phoenix and Palm Springs, 鈥渂ut Victoria won that competition hands down. We could not replace what we found here anywhere else.鈥�
Lynne added: 鈥淭his is a city of little villages, and that is very attractive to us. We just marvel that we don鈥檛 have to get in a car to go to a restaurant, the hardware store, an art gallery or the beach. We can even walk downtown.鈥�
Abstract principal Mike Miller started assembling land at this prime location about three years ago with just that in mind.
鈥淚 saw it as a tremendous opportunity to be a pioneer in the village. This area is a place where you can eat, drink, entertain, shop and still have a local feeling and tremendous walkability, which is so important for the way people want to live now.鈥�
Miller noted most of the development along the avenue has involved 鈥渁 mixed bag鈥� of renovations and additions to one- or two-storey older buildings, with little new construction over the years.
鈥淚 had the vision of a four-storey building of very high quality, design and finishing.鈥�
Village Walk is the first condominium the award-winning builder has done, but he is now planning others with the same focus 鈥� village life and walkability 鈥� in places such as Cook Street village, Cadboro Bay village and Estevan.
He approaches condo construction in the same way he builds houses: 鈥淲e have used a lot of trades from our custom-home business here, and brought the same discipline. Of course, we also paid a premium for that.鈥�
The Calgary owners find their new penthouse flawless and credit Miller and designer Sandy Nygaard for the quality and detailing.
Nygaard designed all the custom upgrades while her business partner, Dawn Garneau, helped select carpets, artwork, fabrics and furniture.
Condo living requires streamlining, said Nygaard.
鈥淚t is difficult to bring a bunch of loose furniture into a scaled-down environment, especially one with semi-transitional contemporary style. So built-ins are the answer.
鈥淐onsistency of materials also calms a space down and gives it an overall cohesive look, which is important when you have an open floor plan. You don鈥檛 want to feel as if you are moving through completely different areas as you walk from kitchen to living to dining rooms.鈥�
To achieve smooth transitions, she used only two finishes: painted cabinetry in the kitchen, with recessed panels for a hint of tradition, and walnut veneer slab-style cabinets elsewhere.
The original floor plan called for a hall closet, but when the owners gave her free rein to customize anything, she designed something else.
鈥淚 think we created a far greater look by elevating a built-in unit from the floor, and bringing it down from the ceiling. I also included a display niche, so it wouldn鈥檛 look like one big slab of wood.鈥� As visitors enter, the first thing they see is the cabinet, which sets the tone for the penthouse.
Condos cost from $450,000 to $1.3 million and range in size from 888 to 1,600 square feet.
Miller said minimizing common areas kept the strata fees low 鈥� 28 cents a square foot not including heat, 40 cents with heat.
The lobby is a modest size, yet appropriate for the scale of the building, said architect Franc d鈥橝mbrosio.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 spend much time in a lobby and need just enough room for a dignified wait for the elevator or a cab, but we did make the hallways a bit wider and more gracious, in consideration of the aging demographic.鈥�
The building blends with its surroundings, partly because his architectural team looked at adjacent neighbourhoods in Oak Bay and Rockland, and echoed stylistic elements such as vertically proportioned windows recessed with proper sills.
鈥淚t gives the building a more sheltered, domestic, residential character, while aligning it with a contemporary interpretation,鈥� he said.
D鈥橝mbrosio architecture also chose to 鈥渄esign crisp corners and follow the geometry of Foul Bay Road,鈥� namely the kink as it approaches the corner of Oak Bay Avenue.
鈥淥f all the many positive comments we receive, this is what people refer to most,鈥� D鈥橝mbrosio said. It鈥檚 a decision that not only adds curb appeal but makes the interiors more interesting.
Rather than bringing the exterior walls straight down to the sidewalk, the firm set them back by 2.4 metres at street level.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been playing with that on different buildings for years, in the Atrium and Oak Bay Home Hardware,鈥� said d鈥橝mbrosio. 鈥淚t gives extra room for pedestrians, for a little garden perhaps, seating, bicycles.鈥�
The architects also created a taller-than-normal ground floor, inspired by some of the buildings in Victoria鈥檚 old town, such as Pagliacci鈥檚 restaurant, and several in Oak Bay with mezzanines. 鈥淓ach ground-floor unit has the option of creating a platform and stair to a little cubby or office.
There are pleasant surprises 鈥渆very time you turn around,鈥� Lynne said.
鈥淚t is a very livable, luxurious, comfortable building. I am big on function and Don is all about esthetics, so we were delighted to find a home that is both beautiful and practical.鈥�
They were blown away when they saw their unit for the first time after buying it.
鈥淭hese people listen and understand and embrace what you want,鈥� said Don. 鈥淭hey perceived 鈥� our desire to be elemental, not flashy. We are definitely not into bling.鈥�
