Kitchissippi Times | August 1, 2018 by Great River Media inc.

HOMES AND FAMILY

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To Move or Not to Move, that is the Question

KitchissippiTimes

dean.caillier@evcanada.com 613-422-8688 deancaillier.com

7 • August 2018

I love the real estate reality show that renovates the home for its present owner—to entice them to stay—while at the same time a Realtor searches for that perfect property to encourage them to move. With each episode, the decision to stay or move largely depends on which property checks off more of the wish list boxes – but it is rare that either property meets every criteria for the owner. Compromises are made and the owners find middle ground to either stay or sell. In real life, to stay or move depends on many factors. How important is location? Is the house too small or now too big? Is the house worth renovating? And of course, what is the budget when either renovating or moving to a new home? In both cases, the first step is to meet with a professional Realtor. They can prepare a home evaluation of your property so that you better understand its current value in the marketplace. A Realtor can also provide you with trends and statistics on the current housing market

including the value of that dream home that checks off those wish list boxes. If staying is an option you want to consider, contact a licensed contractor specializing in the type of renovation you are considering. Have them assess what can and cannot be done based on your wish list including a general estimate for the work, timeframe to do the work and the process for the renovating the home. With all this information in hand, you will be able to answer the question, to move or not to move.

kitchissippitimes

By Dean Caillier, Sales Representative, Engel & Völkers Ottawa

@Kitchissippi

The Giammaria home is just west of Golden Avenue and is home to Luigi, his wife Samar, and their children Atia (10), Bruno (8) and Mila (5). There’s a lot going on in this area – any day of the week. Directly across the street is the Byron Avenue linear park, great for a lazy stroll on any day, and the site of the popular farmer’s market every Saturday from May to October. The many shops and restaurants of Richmond Road, which essentially start at Golden Avenue and continue east, are a stone’s throw from their front door. A hop and a skip away, one spies two dozen people at the Highland Park Lawn Bowling Club enjoying a beautiful morning. The dew is still wet on the lawn as they send their lawn bowls rolling across the expanse of green. It becomes clear quite quickly in talking with him that Luigi has packed a great deal of construction experience into his 46 years. He was “on the job” so to speak, at the age of 12 with his father, Bruno Giammaria Sr., an industrious plumber who started his business in Westboro in 1970. Luigi says his father “technically” hasn’t retired but stopped working for clients about ten years ago. Readers may remember Bruno’s Plumbing store on Richmond Road where Kitchenalia is now. Luigi worked alongside his father improving the properties he owned. Continued on next page

kitchissippi.com

espite its massive size, a gorgeous, wooden front door swings open effortlessly and quietly when Luigi Giammaria’s welcomes me into his impressive home at 608 Byron Ave. Let’s put the Giammaria house in context. Situated near the corner of Byron and Golden Avenues, the home stands in sharp contrast to the smaller, traditional homes nearby. Perhaps the most tell-tale sign that 608 Byron Ave. is not your average new build is an array of narrow blue and white panels that adorn a wide perimeter around the front windows of the house and are also featured on the wall leading up the front stairs. As Luigi points out, the white panels are unpainted concrete called Oko Skin imported from Austria. The blue panels are painted aluminum, which he sourced locally and had painted to his choice of blue colour. “If we get tired of it, I can take them down and have them repainted,” he adds with a laugh. Iron metal cladding, called Corten, surrounds an equally large upper window on the front of the house. It is meant to oxidize over time to a rusty brown colour. Luigi also uses it in his landscaping projects. Dark grey acrylic stucco completes the exterior on the front and sides of the house. Regarding some of the unique aspects of his home, including the blue tiles and the metal window surrounds, Luigi admits he was after something totally original. “I tend to be a little more out there in trying different styles,” he says. Luigi is also an advocate of recycling in his projects and avoids plastics and materials that include glues.