The Sandfield - a unique Split-Level Family Home by Mattamy

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	The Sandfield : Front Elevation Source : Mattamy Homes

	The Sandfield Home by Mattamy Source : Mattamy Homes

	The Sandfield Home by Mattamy Source : Mattamy Homes

Most previous detached two-storey homes with a double garage on such a narrow lot have been obliged to project the garages out in front of the house almost like a separate structure - a style that some home buyers accept with reluctance as a trade-off for needing a garage for two cars for a relatively low price. (Up till now, the formula deployed successfully by Minto to accommodate a double garage that does not project out in front, has been to swing the house sideways on the lot).

Mattamy's formula with The Sandfield (2,527 Sq Ft) and a smaller design named The Queensbank (2,289 Sq Ft) is to provide steps leading up to a raised covered porch at the entrance so that the garage beside it is several feet lower at ground level. It means - with another half staircase rising inside the house to a Great Room with a fireplace - that the main living room enjoys a bright and unobstructed outlook to the front through a covered balcony approximately 17 feet long.

In addition, Mattamy incorporates another formula for success, with their competitive pricing (which we'll remark on more elaborately later). The "Sandfield Equation" self-evidently states; "Outstanding design plus competitive pricing equals extraordinary value!"

It should be added however that there is nothing original in cutting a 2-car garage back into the house. For example, Brigil's Le Chateau design has been available in Aylmer for several years. But the problem with that formula is that it reduces the usable finished space in the house to approximately 2,000 Sq Ft - whereas the beauty of Mattamy's solution is that its split-level design enable the main level to spread right across the house above the garage ceiling.

Newcomers to Ottawa should note that "split-level" now has a new connotation. It was used in the past when some builders made price levels affordable (in the old sense) by raising a bungalow's basement to provide enough room for fenestration so that several finished bedrooms could be built below ground level - probably priced around the 1950s at about $25,000! Mattamy's formula, however, uses the split-level formula to the benefit of the main levels of their house, up instead of down. (And it bears no relation to the old back-splits or side-splits).

The Sandfield provides 3 bedrooms, (with a 4-bedroom option that utilizes the Great Room), as well as another main room, described as the Living Room, which is 16ft long and 12ft into the squared-up bay window. It has a coffered ceiling and is directly adjacent to the ample Breakfast Room. The traditional Island Kitchen next to it has a double sink in its island and a snack bar.

On entering the foyer beneath the raised covered porch, it becomes self-evident that every feature is in exactly the right place - with a coat closet beside the front door, a convenient powder room immediately beyond it with light from an outside window, and a laundry situated on the main level beside the kitchen.

Seven steps up to the right brings you into the Great Room, which has an uninterrupted view inside the house, across the dining room and into the Living Room through an oak balustrade.

Daylight through the front windows of the Great Room is augmented by a side window set back from the neighbouring house to allow more light into the Dining Room.

What will undoubtedly keep a family interested in this home is the multi-level effect with its attractive and revealing sight-lines across rooms and upstairs through oak banisters and railings to a Loft Study or computer nook on the bedroom level. The effect created by this configuration is of a minstrel gallery looking down on the dining room and the Great Room.

It comes as no surprise that The Sandfield is Mattamy's Number One best-seller in their new Fairwinds community in Kanata West. And their formula includes a competitive price of .

If we divide that by its square footage, it must surely make it one of the best values for a 3-bedroom detached family home in Ottawa. But - as we caution readers - the price price-per-foot depends on many other factors, particularly location. The Fairwinds is, after all, quite far from downtown Ottawa, backing on to Jackson Trails in Stittsville.

The Sandfield certainly merits our HomesExplorer ™ 5-Star award for originality in design, best use of living space, aesthetics, and special attention and care to features and fittings and finishes of unusual elegance and good taste. This is altogether a stylish house.

The Sandfield is one of five model homes on display for visitors to Fairwinds, and definitely a "must see!"

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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.