Livingston Builders
Modern clean lines of Livingston appeal to young couple
Cedarglen Homes is one of eight new home builders in the new community in north Calgary
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Working from home in the kitchen of a 700-square-foot apartment just wasn't cutting the mustard for Jobelle Firme and Kyle Skelly of Calgary.
"We'd been looking to move but were motivated by the pandemic to look faster," says Skelly, who works as a software developer.
In 2020, he and Firme, also a software developer, hit the road with their realtor in search of their first home. Since they were living in Kincora in the northwest, their territory of choice was anything west of Deerfoot Trail bordering Stoney Trail. They checked out the resale market, thinking it was the most affordable option.
"There were a lot of '80s- and '90s-style homes, but for the price a lot of work needed to be done. Nothing had the cleaner look we were looking for. Then friends mentioned Livingston and that kind of pointed us over here," says Skelly.
"We'd have a modern look if we built new," Firme adds.
The couple chose to build a single-family front-drive garage home from scratch with Cedarglen Homes, one of eight builders in Brookfield Residential's Livingston community. They went with the Huxley 26 on a traditional lot, a Cedarglen floor plan they'd seen in Harvest Hills.
Area sales manager Reda Sabbah says Cedarglen doesn't built the 26-foot wide Huxley very often.
"We maybe sell one a year. We have a successor called the Coronation 24, which is our show home in Livingston. The Huxley is designed for a conventional lot while the Coronation is for a zero lot," he says. "Kyle and Jobelle came to us and asked if they could build the Huxley in Livingston and we said, absolutely."
At 2,100 square feet, the Huxley starts at $599,000, GST included, on a traditional lot. It has three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, upstairs bonus room and open concept main floor. The large kitchen has a 10-foot by four-foot island, which is nothing short of bodacious.
"You don't even see 2,500-square-foot homes with an island that big," Sabbah says.
The kitchen has a ceiling-height tiled backsplash and a chimney-style hood fan, which were both standard features. They splurged on upgrades, like a granite Blanco sink.
Cedarglen was also open to customization requests.
"We modified the master to have a larger ensuite and walk through to both sides of the bathroom. We were looking for something that wasn't in any of their floor plans. Cedarglen reworked the upstairs to accommodate what we were looking for," Skelly says.
Basement development is in their future plans. The configuration of the mechanical room, staircase and support posts is perfect, he says.
"The rooms can be as square as you'd like them without wasting any space."
Because the couple hope to start a family soon, they chose a lot on a quiet street with a playground, a block away from the Livingston Homeowners' Association facility and a future school site.
"The community has a lot of promise. The development plans for the community look pretty strong," Skelly says.
Three months into homeownership, the couple is waiting for new furniture to arrive. Firme has set up her office in the bonus room, which is flooded with sunlight every morning. Skelly is back working in an office, which is just 15 minutes away.
Like the rest of the world, they're hoping for an end to the pandemic so they can host parties — big parties — in their new home.
The financial jump to a 2,100-square-foot home wasn't as difficult as they'd imagined.
"One thing that helped us, in this case, were the lower interest rates when we purchased. We were a little surprised about what we qualified for and we were definitely conservative in what we purchased," Skelly says.
"The only difficulty was with the speed at which houses were selling. They told us that when we picked our lot, two other people in that same day had asked if it was reserved. The affordability wasn't difficulty, it was more about making a rash decision because things were moving so quickly."
THE DETAILS
COMMUNITY: Livingston
DEVELOPER: Brookfield Residential
BUILDER: Cedarglen Homes
MODEL: The Huxley 26 front-drive garage
SIZE: 2,100 square feet, three-bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, upstairs bonus room
PRICE: From $599,000 GST included
INFORMATION: The Coronation show home is located at 26 Howse Mount N.E. or visit experiencelivingston.com/Cedarglen-homes .
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Source: https://calgaryherald.com/life/homes/new-homes/modern-clean-lines-of-livingston-appeal-to-young-couple
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