The Chilliwack Progress Wednesday, April 22, 2015
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Tuscan Developments’ Villa del Sol Ponente renovation was a year-long project that changed the exterior facade and took advantage of the home’s stunning Crescent Beach location. Photo supplied by Tuscan Developments
A taste of Italy with Tuscan Developments By Kerry Vital
There’s a touch of Italian luxury in Crescent Beach, thanks to Tuscan Developments and its president, Mark Peers. Their recent renovation takes advantage of a fantastic location to create a home that’s perfect for a family, and unrecognizable from the original home. Peers purchased the existing house, built in 1975, because he saw it as a “wonderful opportunity” to create something beautiful. “The home had great bones,” he says. “Everything was in excellent shape. This saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars by using the existing house.” The $2-million renovation, which changed both the layout and the exterior facade, took a year from beginning to end, and later sold for over $5 million after the house was completed. Peers calls the home Villa del Sol Ponente, which means House of the Sinking Sun in Italian. It’s an appropriate name. “From the kitchen you look through French doors over the infinity pool and to the ocean,” he says. Sunsets are never in the short supply through the huge windows, and the homeowners
are able to take advantage of unrestricted 180-degree views of the Pacific ocean to the west and the surrounding forest to the east. The original home didn’t take advantage of these surroundings. “It was designed for an urban lot that was built looking inward instead of outward,” says Peers. “We focused on the ocean and brought it into the home.” Peers and his team removed all of the interior walls from the main floor of the home, and created a seamless open floor plan. “We put in major steel beams to support the second floor after we removed the walls from the main floor,” he says. “This house had too many bedrooms, so we removed the bedroom above the living room and created 20-foot ceilings. It enabled us to place large windows above the new French doors.” Light now pours into the home through those large windows, and the doors open onto the pool and garden area. “I love the layout; it’s just to die for,” says Peers. “From the kitchen, the living room is on the left and a kids’ playroom is on the right with a fireplace and doors that open onto the pool. It means the family can all be together without being on top of each other.” The original family room is now called the Arizona Room, after Peers removed the exterior wall and replaced it with an Eclipse Moving Wall that can open up completely to the outside. It holds an indoor fire pit that can be used for barbecues year-
round, and has direct access to the pool and hot tub. The kitchen, now moved to the centre of the home, is seriously spectacular, with granite flooring and marble countertops. Peers and his team also added a spice kitchen off the main kitchen. “The spice kitchen is where the action happens!” says Peers. There is also a wine cellar and huge pantry that blends seamlessly with style of the elegant kitchen. The main floor also features a stunning powder room, which was integral to the renovation. “The powder room is the most important room in the house,” Peers says. “When people come over, they form an opinion of you and your home from looking at the powder room. This one … is really beautiful.” Another important room is the laundry room, which Peers notes is integral to the successful running of the house when you have a family. “You spend half your life in there!” he says. Now, the no-longer-utilitarian laundry room has plenty of space for sorting, folding and ironing, as well as tons of storage. The beauty continues upstairs. With the removal of some of the floors upstairs to create the 20-foot ceilings in the living area, Peers was able to create a floating walkway that adds to the incredible sense of space in the home.
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