These unique homes stand out from the crowd

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Bright, light and white or modern and urban with breathtaking views?

Both are award winners and different takes that break the mould in local home-building circles.

Of the many winners at the BILD Edmonton Metro Awards of Excellence in Housing event earlier this year, these two homes offer a unique look at how Edmonton-area living spaces are shedding the traditional and pushing design concepts to the next level.

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Habitat Studio, which won three awards at the housing gala, took one — Best Renovation $300,000 to $600,000 — for the Giselle Denis art studio, a large, very white artist’s haven filled with pops of colourful impressionist nature paintings from Denis, an artist and musician, which also explains the eye-catching red piano in one corner of the studio. Meanwhile, Justin Gray Homes pushed the envelope in another direction and brought a bit of California living to Edmonton, taking the Best Single Family (home) over $1.5 million.

Both homes, the Denis residence in Sherwood Park, and the Gray offering in Cloverdale, took advantage not only of their locations but have also changed how indoor spaces are used.

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Artistic Splendour

What was once a hoarder house — it was barely livable when Denis and her husband bought it in 2008 but the privacy, location, greenery and the non-cookie-cutter design of this 1970s-era home had her hooked — would subsequently be transformed into a home that would double as an art studio and gallery. Fast forward to 2021 as it’s the next renovation — when the process for the award-winning gallery addition began — that allowed Denis to let her home be more of a home and move the creative aspect of her life into the newer 3,200-square-foot addition.

Connected by an indoor breezeway to the existing house, the addition includes the gallery space, at 1,500 sq. ft., with additional living zones, the breezeway and a three-car garage accounting for the remainder.

“I wanted it to be a work space for my open houses and to have a real gallery look,” said Denis, noting she also wanted it to look like a proper wing of the existing home. With her artworks becoming even larger, including one commissioned piece that was eight feet by 16 feet, height was another consideration with the ceiling in the gallery portion rising to just under 12 feet. Meanwhile, walls of almost floor-to-ceiling windows bring the outdoors in and complement her artistic creations.

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Denis linked up with Habitat, having been inspired by a Habitat house she saw — she knocked on the door and asked the homeowners who had done their home. Then she subsequently presented Habitat with a hand-drawn idea on a napkin and asked, can you do this?

“Giselle and Neil (Denis’ husband) were such a pleasure to work with, not only bringing their own ideas, but also open to anything we had to offer,” said Trevor Hoover, Habitat Studio’s senior designer and partner, adding that great designs transform spaces but great renovations transform lives. “Our team was very proud to have turned their vision into reality.”

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Californian Vibes

Steps away from the Muttart Conservatory, this stunning five-floor Cloverdale home might seem like it would be found on an episode of the reality television show, Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.

The basics — and there is nothing basic about this home — show there’s more than 5,200 sq. ft. of living space, six bedrooms and 6½ bathrooms, two additional suites, and not one or two or even three rooftop patios but four.

“I just always like to push the envelope in architecture and challenge my team,” said Justin Gray, president of Justin Gray Homes. “I had a vision. I was just really inspired by the location and the potential view, and wanted to design something that never been done before. I think Edmonton architecture needs to pushed and we did that.”

For the five-car garage, it’s accessed through the rear but with an underground entry. Steel beam construction allows for a more open main floor, which has 10-foot ceilings, a 10-foot gas fireplace and a kitchen with a hidden pantry.

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Meanwhile, a cantilever staircase with floating oak treads off the limestone wall connects to the upper levels. The primary, on the next level, includes a double-sided fireplace that divides the sleeping segment from the seating area and wet bar. Go up one more level and entertaining is front and centre with a theatre and wet bar that opens up (on both ends of the floor) to outdoor patio spaces — one includes a TV, lounge seating and a barbecue, the other is a private wellness retreat with a cedar barrel sauna, a cold plunge tub and a hot tub.

The fourth patio, on the rooftop, provides magnificent 360-degrees views of the city.

Gray calls the home a timeless California modern that brings California living to Edmonton.

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