The Sancerre Luxury Semi-Detached Home by Larco

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	The Sancerre : Front Elevation Source: Larco

With the price increases associated with the current housing boom, those buyers finding a larger detached 2-storey home out of reach have come to see Semis as an acceptable trade-off in order to obtain desirable features without astronomical costs, and still remain within an easy commute from downtown Ottawa.

Most types of semis built for young couples at affordable prices in communities are on lots between 18ft to 19'6" wide. And because parcels of residential land closer to downtown - called infills - are more expensive, the higher priced types of semis built on them are frequently also only 18ft wide lots too. That means only a one-car garage, or a less appealing house built over a double garage.

But everything is relative, and it turns out that an 18ft width is quite generous when considering the comments of an author writing about London communities. She wrote:

the common little house of which there have been thousands and thousands is only sixteen feet broad. It has probably been the ordinary size for a site since the Middle Ages.

So Canadians are fortunate to enjoy an abundance of undeveloped land compared with overcrowded and densely populated Europe, over which urban sprawl crept as early as the beginning of the twentieth century.

Larco's new luxury semis are different from the first two concepts. They are to be built on 37ft and 41ft wide lots - more than twice the width of those more affordable semi-detached homes. This new community named Solera is an exclusive little enclave of 113 architect-designed homes, just off Hunt Club Road at Cahill Drive, a little bit east of Bank Street and Albion Road, (which is where their sales centre stands right now). Model homes won't be ready until October.

Since Solera will also include 2-storey detached houses, there will be only 42 luxury semis. They are all on one level with high-pitched roofs, and, rather than looking like bungalows, they look more like 2-storey homes from the outside, and feel as large from the inside.

Evidently Larco Homes have designed Solera for successful and discriminating boomers, entrepreneurs and top executives, either with families or - in the case of the ranch-style bungalow semis - those whose children have already grown up and left home. That, at any rate, is its practical virtue. But there is also a special tone or style that goes with the Solera Concept that is likely to appeal also to younger families.

Soaring ceilings and sunlit rooms are certainly part of the design concept of this tasteful community. Architects tend to describe their style in arcane terms that have special meaning for them from student days, but leave us none the wiser. So how can we create a word-picture of the exteriors of these homes when nothing has been built yet?

You could call the designs of their facades purposeful understatement.

It is often said that nothing characterizes the English so much as understatement. It is an attempt to avoid any possible embarrassment arising from seeming to be showing off. That is the kind of modest restraint that architect David Mailing incorporates into the facades of the Solera homes. It should create gentle and harmonious streetscapes, instead of the garishness that often offends the eye in some new communities. It is a form of minimalism - which means it excludes anything superfluous. The result is clear and simple, but saved from mere utility by graceful lines - best described by what it is not.

The exteriors are not flamboyant, vulgar or nouveau riche. Nor are they nostalgically European. Nothing is out-of-place, nothing shocks the eye. It is the kind of restraint that might mirror the self-assurance of potential home buyers who don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Ideal for successful and discriminating professional people preparing in advance to retire gracefully in a restful and picturesque neighbourhood. But - in the case of the semis - also for successful younger executives and entrepreneurs with families.

There are seven separate semi designs, each with two or three variations. In our opinion, it is the Sancerre that most epitomizes the Solera concept. Prices start at .

The lot on which it will be built is 41ft wide. That means genuinely spacious interiors - as opposed simply to real-estate hype. The high roofline of one elevation features three attractive dormers to introduce light into the main level. An alternative elevation features understated gable ends. Garage doors, front doors and roof shingles appear to be in tasteful earth tones.

There is a 2-car garage to one side of the main entrance, and a second bedroom on the other - which could be used as an office or study or den. The main floor consists of 1908 Sq Ft. And there is an optional finished Rec. Room and third bedroom with an additional bathroom downstairs if required.

Options provide for an unusually long (31'6") Living and Dining Room, with a 12ft high coffered ceiling, which is 17'4" in width. Floors are hardwood. The Living Room end features a fireplace.

Alternatively, the Sancerre 11 features a separate dining room on the other side of the house, facing a spacious open island kitchen. The rest of the layout is much the same as the Sancerre 1 - which also features an open kitchen with a curved snack bar on one side of the island, and a skylight. The full width of the house is approximately 35ft - more typical of a custom-built luxury detached house.

A corner at the far end is taken up by the master suite with two walk-in closets and an en-suite bathroom with a ceramic floor. On entering the house through the garage instead of beneath the front porch, you pass through a mudroom with a laundry beside it.

The front walkway is clad in interlocking brick. Each house, although attached, is presented as a separate home with its own particular identity - just as bathroom fittings inside look personalized rather than standard. Most features and finishes are carefully described or even illustrated in Larco's brochure, which shows typical exteriors and streetscapes in which attached models are combined.

We chose the Sancerre 1 for our HomesExplorer ™ 5-Star Design Award simply because we had to choose only one. That was difficult because - even without the excellent plans by Architect David Mailing - Larco's President Richard Levitan has always possessed a natural flair for good taste or aesthetics, as well as a predilection for craftsmanship and attention to fine details. And he has always been at his best designing distinctive and exclusive residential enclaves. So the Sancerre 1 deserves five stars particularly for its impeccable taste.

The Sancerre may appeal to Boomers preparing in advance for a soft landing to enable them to enjoy future retirement - or at least the thought of it - or alternatively, to successful younger families wanting to live closer to downtown, in a luxurious setting.

Check availability with the builder - Contact Larco

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The sole aim of the HomesExplorer™ 5-Star Design Awards Program is to reward excellence in the new homes industry by awarding five stars for the best design or innovation in a particular category. Our 5 Star Rating is awarded solely for excellence in design or innovation. Quality of construction and service are for buyers to ascertain themselves.