HYBRID. harmonious. home & builder

Transcription

1 harmoious HYBRID BY JIM FOX // PHOTOGRAPHY BY SANDY MACKAY Attetio to detail, beautiful desig ad solid craftsmaship are the hallmarks of Legedary Logcrafters. This beautiful home i Sowbridge has a desirable layout ad spacious priciple rooms. MMila Smeh smiles whe he describes the style of his home. I guess you d call it a hybrid of styles, he says. It has the look of a Victoria castle or a medieval fortress. I love the combiatio of wood ad stoe. You ca see it i my costructio. The spacious home Smeh, ower of Legedary Logcrafters, built i the Sowbridge commuity at the foot of Blue Moutai exemplifies his love of wood ad other atural costructio materials. Fiiga, the friedly family pet, greets visitors to this comfortable home eagerly waggig his tail. Fiiga, a malamute hybrid, seems perfectly at home i this elegat rustic settig. It is fittig because Hybrid Buildig System, the ewest divisio of Smeh s operatio is a custom pre-fabricated buildig system that itegrates authetic Post ad Beam costructio with curret covetioal buildig methods. The result? A beautiful custom home that is eclosed ad ready for the ext phase of fiishig i three days or less. Cotiued o page o u r h o m e s s p r i g o u r h o m e s s p r i g

2 Little thigs, like this peek-a-boo hole i the frot door, tell a story about the builder ad his visio. BOTTOM LEFT: Wedy, Mila ad Fiiga pose for a family portrait. BOTTOM RIGHT: The great room is located at the back of the home with a view of the beautifully ladscaped yard ad golf course beyod. I m excited about this ew dimesio to our busiess, Smeh says. I the past we focused o youg professioals who were lookig for a coutry home i a rural settig or grassroots, log-home ethusiasts. Now we have the ability to take o projects that rage from the basic to the extravagat ad ivolve a combiatio of buildig approaches. We stick to our motto: Iovative Cocepts ad Sustaiable Solutios. Our market has opeed up to iclude a wide variety of cliets, may local to this area. Smeh s compay, which, durig the 1990s, shipped custom-built log homes to the Uited States from Califoria to Nevada, Florida ad as far away as Korea ow focuses o Caadia commercial ad domestic costructio. Legedary Logcrafters, usig local maufacturig ad local persoel, is i a uique positio to address the eeds of the local market. Located o a five-acre idustrial site i Colligwood, it has a uique base from which to provide competitive alteratives to covetioal custom-built homes. Smeh s love affair with wood costructio bega before his graduatio from the Uiversity of Wester Otario i 1992 i Civil Egieerig. I ve always bee self-employed, he says. While attedig Wester, I started a small summer costructio busiess, buildig decks ad gazebos ad I always kew I d be ivolved i the costructio idustry somehow. Cotiued o page 90 The large kitche is bright ad perfectly equipped for every cookig occassio. The furiture-quality islad has a raised graite-topped bar ad a fabulous hammered-copper sik. ABOVE: It s time to ejoy a drik outside ad this kitche is just steps from the outdoor patio. 88 o u r h o m e s s p r i g o u r h o m e s s p r i g

3 Leveragig today s state-of-the-art techologies with yesterday s tried ad true performers... ad a Fatastic Shoppig Experiece! TOP LEFT: A pot-filler above the commercial-grade stove is a must i this spacious kitche. TOP RIGHT: Oly the best fiishes will do. Mila pays attetio to every detail i every room. RIGHT: The diig room is located at the frot of the home with easy access to the kitche. Friedly, Persoal, Professioal Attetio His wife Wedy adds, Mila has always bee a hads-o builder. He loves to be ivolved first-had i all of his projects. Smeh reflects upo how his iterest i home costructio started. After graduatig from Wester I travelled through British Columbia ad the wester Uited States where I was take by the beauty ad variety of the woode homes. I got back ad wet to the library ad got a book o log home costructio. I 93, with help from relatives, I built a model home i Wasaga Beach. My backgroud i egieerig helped with the structural compoets. Thigs wet well. By 96 we had costructed 15 homes. I 1997, we built our first home i the States. The house at Sowbridge, which Smeh has called home for a umber of years is ow for sale ad listed with Doug Gillis, Re/Max Four Seasos Realty Ltd. It reflects his architectural iterests ad the ature-ispired, wood-ehaced structures he loves. Dark grey sidig, rich brow accets ad fieldstoe make this home a stadout i a eighbourhood of executive homes. Its Juliette balcoy, corer turrets ad lookout tower are uique exterior features foud owhere else i the viciity. Large widows provide a paoramic view of Blue Moutai, while floodig the mai floor s ope space with atural light. A expasive etraceway achored by textured slate tile i atural toes leads visitors ito a ope space with earth-toe walls, custom pie trim ad strikig timbers. The immediate impressio is that of a solid, classic structure. The sigular, cetral woode staircase with wroughtiro spidles that rises from the basemet to the third floor is a dramatic elemet that ehaces the builder s aturalistic itet. Cotiued o page 92 Sice 1989 Expert Sales, Service & Custom I-Home Istallatio GUARANTEED LOW PRICES! 15 Balsam St., Uit 3, Colligwood (Betwee Staples & A&W) X 90 o u r h o m e s s p r i g

4 Discover The PossibiliTies Lookig dow from the top floor of this fabulous Sowbridge fortress. BELOW: The master bedroom is dow the hall o the upper level. Let us help you to realize your ladscapig visio. Our professioal crew ca ehace your surroudigs with custom ladscapig, water features ad custom stoework. View recet work olie or call zeg ladscapig today. zegladscapig.com O the mai floor, beyod the ope staircase, is a spacious kitche with smart off-white cabietry by Mike Paye Cabietry that complemets the moder stailess steel appliaces. Next to the food preparatio area is a elegat formal diig room with rich wood furiture ad muted, plum walls. Beyod the kitche s vast islad, topped i atique brow graite, is the great room. Here, floor-to-ceilig widows, upholstered ad leather furiture ad a massive stoe, wood-burig hearth by Nottawasaga Mechaical create a sese of cosy comfort. The timber accets of the home s exterior are cotiued i the Post ad Beam feel of the exposed trusses of the great room. The home office has its ow gas fireplace ad glass doors that lead to the back deck, the stoe hot tub ad the uique water feature ad ladscapig by Nature s Edge Ladscapig. Smeh speaks proudly of the uique creatio he calls lazy river. Water rus from beeath the hot tub over river rock to a pod. Above the pod is a waterfall over a massive five-to stoe slab that gives the backyard a great atural feature. Each of the four bedrooms o the secod floor has its ow distict style ad access to the outdoors via a turret balcoy or portico. The master bedroom, complete with walk-i closet, sports a e suite bathroom with a jet tub, a double shower ad his-ad-hers vaities all with accets of classic travertie stoe. Cotiued o page 94 Ope to the Public! GREY RD 2 THORNBURY, ONTARIO (CORNER OF HWY. 26 & GREY RD. 2) LOOK FOR THE INUKSHUK for all your outdoor ladscapig eeds: TOPSOIL MULCH AGGREGATES NATURAL STONE PRECAST PAVERS & WALLS STONE VENEERS DUTCH QUALITY CULTURED STONE POND KITS AND SUPPLIES SAY INUKSHUK & RECEIVE 5% OFF MULCH & TOPSOIL FOR MAY & JUNE! 92 o u r h o m e s s p r i g

5 Ascedig the stairs to the third floor, the ladig opes to a lookout tower providig a paoramic view of the etire escarpmet. Beside it, the master loft might double as a office space or a exercise area. Right here, hidde from view, exists the home s most itriguig feature. Like all good castles, this home possesses its ow secret room! The etrace to this oe is foud behid a large Victoria, full-legth mirror, remiiscet of the fictioal Alice s lookig glass! The lower level with its attractive acid-stai, stamped cocrete floors has a ope etertaimet area, a wie cellar for 1,000 bottles created by Georgia Bay Cellars, a rustic marble-topped bar, a home theatre room ad a spacious eramosa/travertie steam shower. This home, like Mila Smeh s visio for the future of his compay, is a harmoious hybrid of differet styles. I Smeh s words: I take a lot of pride i creatig somethig uique that ecompasses a lot of styles. It s my visio for a iovative, dyamic compay. Smeh s passio for his work will make his future visio, like this home, a elegat reality. OH The master bedroom is a true oasis with a large e suite ad a fireplace. Mila ad Wedy have doe a woderful job furishig ad decoratig their home to fit the hybrid costructio. Prudetial O The Harbour Real Estate Brokerage Toll-free Tel: ifo@otheharbour.com otheharbour.com Blue Moutai Coutry Estate A simply beautiful 6000 sq ft home with absolute privacy o 50 sceic acres. This 5 bedroom/5 bath home displays its comfortably elegat character: well dressed, well maitaied ad well loved! 15 miutes from Colligwood or Thorbury. Niagara Escarpmet topography, log views out to Georgia Bay, a place for all seasos. For fabulous photos ad virtual tour, please visit our websites, eter 9339C. A private guided tour of the property ca be arraged. Please call or with your request. Offered for $1,695,000. For more pics & ifo visit: barbaramccowa.com & eter 9339C Barbara McCowa, Broker of Record bmccowa@otheharbour.com Direct: Rock Solid i Real Estate SM A idepedetly owed ad operated broker member of The Prudetial Real Estate Affiliates, Ic. A subsidiary of The Prudetial Isurace Compay of America, ower of trademarks. Used uder licese. 94 o u r h o m e s s p r i g