Have you ever built a home in Wasaga Beach?

Q:

Have you ever built a home in Wasaga Beach?

A:

Yes we have, we have actually built a number of houses in Wasaga Beach of the years. One of my favorite homes that we built was this house; 

http://www.villagebuilders.ca/beach-living/


It is a nice sized house that is two tones in colour with blue horizontal siding on the bottom and toupe cedarshakes on top. The siding is actually pressure treated siding that is painted because of the wind that blows the beach sand around like a sandblaster. This should help give the siding a longer life and reduce the need to replace any siding in the future.

The roof is a standing seam steel roof that is galvanized in colour, helps protect against the harsh winds and the pine needles that fall endlessly on it from the tower pines that are located on the lot.

We removed an old existing family cottage to construct the new one, since the new cottage was larger than the original one there had to be some large pine trees removed from the site. These tree’s were send to a local saw mill where they were cut and made into new tongue and groove 1x6 boards that cover the roof of the dining room.

The pine was not the only thing that was salvaged from the old house, one of the two gas fireplaces was reclaimed from the old family cottage and so was a piece of trim that had all the children’s heights marked on it from over the many years that the family shared the cottage. It was placed on the side of the kitchen so that it could live on in everyone’s memory.

The main part of the house is open concept with it being a cathedral ceiling with a catwalk on the second floor that leads to the bedooms, a washroom and the offices that are set over the garage.

The offices on the second floor also have in-floor heating to keep everything toasty warm throughout those long cold winters.

The entire home has California certified Bamboo flooring that is hard enough to survive the beach sand that blows in through the windows and doors all summer.

The house is also trimmed in Pine that has been clear coated, large pine posts rise up from the first floor to hold up the roof.

The kitchen has a massive island that creates a natural gathering point for the family and friends and the surface is made out of blue ceasar homes.

This beach beauty is one of the nicest homes that we ever constructed in the Town of Wasaga Beach.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Have you ever built a chalet near Blue Mountain, Alpine ski club?

Q:

Have you ever built a chalet near Blue Mountain, Alpine ski club?

A:

Yes, we built a beautiful Chalet near the base of Alpine Ski Club. The home is built with dark wood pre-painted siding on the outside. There are painted wood shingles in the gables and the front of the house has a timber frame entrance and porch.

http://www.villagebuilders.ca/alpine-chalet/


The back of the house has an expansive composite deck with views of the Ski hills and a hot tub that is tucked away on the side of the building out of the way of the winds. The backyard is wonderfully landscaped with a lowered sitting area complete with a fire pit and a waterfall that looks like it flows in the basement windows.

The inside of the chalet is of the highest quality and was built with an extreme eye to detail, fit and finish. The chalet is open concept with the kitchen, dining room and living room all linked without walls to block the view or impede the flow of traffic.

The kitchen is bright with large windows facing the mountain; it has a green granite counter top with a raised wood counter top on the island where breakfast is consumed.

The great room along with the kitchen and dining room have cathedral ceilings that are solid tongue and groove pine with fir beams that are all stained to match. The great room has a soaring fireplace with natural stone and a large gas fireplace.

The house has the large master bedroom on the main floor with 3 more bedrooms upstairs and another two bedrooms in the completely finished basement.

There are 5 bathrooms in the house along with a separate laundry room that is also home to the pantry and beer fridge.

There is a large mud room with custom ski racks right beside the garage that is large enough to hold all the families outdoor equipment.

The floors of the home are antique reclaimed Elm.

Off the great room is a media room where movies are watched by the whole family.

This is one of the nicest homes that we ever built.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Can I buy a Timber Frame Package and Have Village Builders Build The Rest of The Home?

Q:

I wanted to buy a timber frame package from a company for my new custom home but I wanted Village Builders to manage the build for the rest of the home, would your company do that?

A:

Yes we would. We construct custom homes and also custom renovations but at the core of our construction business we are General Contractors.

General contractors (GC) manage the constructing of homes and buildings. Our focus is on constructing custom homes and performing custom renovations but it is not the only aspect of our business. We have in the past completed commercial construction, industrial construction, agricultural construction and institutional construction.

When we construct a custom home we usually have our own carpenters complete all the wood work in the home along with the window and door installation. But there have been times when we sub-contracted out all of this work to other companies because the homeowner requested that we use a certain company to do this work for a variety of reasons.

Several times in the past we have built homes with other companies that build log or timber frame homes, the client wanted us to build the home around the package they had bought from that other company. These cooperation’s between us and the log home makers usually proceed fairly well as most log and timber companies sub-contract out the actual constructing and finishing of the home to other companies anyways. The only difference is that they usually don’t contract out to a custom home company with the ability to handle the whole project and the ability to leave the home with an extremely high end finish.

Since a custom home is a lot more than just the timber or log construction it benefits you to have a General Contractor that is local to the area handle the septic, driveway, basement, finishing’s, heating system, well and hydro line installation.

Make sure that whatever company is going to design and build your timber or logs are qualified to manage a custom home not just the erection of the timber and logs. Bring your plans we will be waiting.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

New Custom Home in Creemore looks like Old Victorian Home

Q:

Can you make a new custom home look like an older home?

A:

Yes you can make a new custom home look like an older home, what you have to do is take the time to design and plan your new home so that every aspect of the home resembles an older home but is built to the standard of a new home. When you are deciding to do this you don’t have to make the inside of the home look like an older home, it can actually be any look or design that you want, the key is to make the outside of the home look like it has been there for a long time like the rest of the homes in the neighborhood.

We built a home just like that in the village of Creemore.

www.villagebuilders.ca/creemore-victorian/

The home was built in the Village of Creemore in an area of the Village that has a lot of older historic homes that were built in the early part of the century.

There was an older existing brick Victorian home on the site that was left by the previous owners to fall into disrepair and decay. The home had sustained so much damage from lack of maintenance and was in such a state of disrepair that it was decided by the homeowners that it would be more expensive to attempt to repair, replace, modify and add to the footprint of the home then it was to knock it down and build a completely new home from scratch.

Even though the decision was made to remove the old home for a new custom home it was also decided that the home that was to be built onsite would be larger than the original home, it would have a walkout basement (something the old home did not have) taking advantage of the natural hill that was in the middle of the lot and every effort would be made so that the design would resemble the older home that was to be removed.

The home is 2500 sqft with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms; it is an open concept layout inside with the living room, dining room and kitchen all on the main floor allowing easy flow from one space to the next.

The exterior of the home is brick in the theme of the original home; the bricks are a rare antique looking brick that looks like the other century homes that exist on the street.

The basement of the home is constructed out of ICF (insulated concrete forms), it holds a bedroom, bathroom, mechanical room and a large workshop for the homeowners woodworking hobby. The basement has a walkout to the backyard allowing easy access.

The second floor of the home has two spare bedrooms and a guest bathroom. It also has the Victorian style windows that the original home had as its main feature facing on to the main street of Creemore.

The brick on the exterior of the home was sourced from out of the country because it was the closest product we could find to the original brick (the brick didn't survive the demolition of the home).The new brick resembled the older brick so much so that when driving down the main street of Creemore you are hard pressed to tell the difference between the new homes brick and the older existing homes brick that populate the street.

The home looks so much like the original home from the outside that we as the builders of the home received compliments from people that came to tour the home (during an open house that we had) about how wonderful a renovation we had done to the old home, they were shocked when we explained to them that this was a completely new home. They had no idea that it was a brand new home and not the original older home completely renovated.

This was all achieved by taking a lot of time to locate the appropriate materials for the outside of the home and also because the homeowners were committed to making the home look like the original Victorian home that had to be removed. They took the time to agonize over the architectural drawings so that they as closely as possible resembled the original home.

If you want your new custom home to look like an older one all you have to is take the time to do your research and make a point not to compromise on the exterior materials. Then make sure that you work with a contractor that is as committed as you are to making the project look like an older home.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

The Lora Bay home is one of our most popular custom homes

Q:

What is one of your most popular homes that you have built?

A:

We built a custom home in Lora Bay which is a golf course community on the outskirts of the town of Thornbury in Ontario.

http://www.villagebuilders.ca/lora-bay-getaway/

The home is about 3000 sqft with a partially finished basement that extents the liveable square footage to 3800. The home is situated on a large treed lot and is professionally landscaped with a large heated in-ground pool and pool house in the backyard.

It has earth toned coloured wood siding and white vinyl windows on the outside with an asphalt shingled roof that blends in nicely with the natural surroundings of the other homes in the area and the golf course that is directly across the road.

Inside the home has an open concept feeling with the kitchen flowing in the great room that has cathedral ceilings and the dining room off to the side sharing part of the space. It gives the home the feeling of grandness without having to be overly large. In the corner of the great room is a wood burning fireplace that has a manufactured stone and wood mantle above.  This feature helps give the great room some added warmth on those cold winter nights and somewhere to gather after skiing at the local ski resorts that are just down the road.

The Eldorado manufactured stone that is on the fireplace is also present around the outside of the house as an accent helping to give the home that natural country cottage feeling that a lot of the homes in the area have.

Off the great room is the master bedroom that has cathedral ceilings with enough space to accommodate a small seating area. There is a separate ensuite bathroom off to the side that is complete with shower, whirlpool tub, toilet and sink with a seating area for the application of makeup.

There is a powder room, laundry room and a small office on the same level. Upstairs there are 2 more good sized bedrooms and a bathroom for guests. The floors on the main level are all dark oak as are the stairs in the home.

The downstairs has a rec. room with another bedroom, a mechanical room and a storage room. The show piece of the basement is the wine room that being in the basement has no problems staying cool. The basement has carpet throughout allowing everyone’s feet to stay warm and cozy.

The two car garage that is out front allows you to not only park your car out of the snow but also a place to store all your toys.

The overall cost of the home was not exurbanite in any way and the homeowners tell me that the home is extremely easy to heat with a high efficiency natural gas furnace. In fact the homeowner admitted to me that it costs them more to heat the pool a year then it does to heat the pool.

I have built many different types, shapes, sizes, colours and styles of homes but this Lora Bay home is by far the one home I get the most calls about when people review our website.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.