editor’s choice
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ike a fine wine that has to be aged toreach perfection, Peggy and Brien Perry’s new home needed some right time to bring out all its charming potential. In the late 1990s, the Perrys fell in love with the location of a 50-by-125-foot corner lot across from River Park in Calgary’s inner city neighbourhood of Altadore. They were less enthused, however, with the 2,000-square-foot 1957 ranch-style fixer-upper that graced the property.
“The home needed some attention, but it was everything that we could afford at the time,” says Brien. Both of them loved the location, though, saying it was perfect for raising their three young children. Fast-forward 13 years — with their kids all away to college, the Perrys are now hip empty nesters with a passion for entertaining. “We love good food and wine,” says Peggy, one of Calgary’s best-known wine connoisseurs and the vice-president of Willow Park Wines & Spirits. They felt it was the right time to bring forth their vision for a modern dream home that brings together their shared love for entertaining and passion for travel and remain on the original lot that they have come to call home. Although their initial plan was just to renovate the existing home, it soon became apparent that a total tear-down was inevitable. “We really didn’t start out with the vision of building a new home,” says Brien. “We got a quote for a new roof and new windows and the energy guys came in and just laughed about the lack of insulation and it just went on. In the end it was smarter for us to build new.” When the decision was made, serious plans began in earnest in January 2011 and the new home was built less than a year later and the Perrys were able to spend Christmas last year in their new home. They are currently working on the landscaping. Brien and Peggy are ardent design fans, and the couple took a hands-on approach in creating their dream home. Peggy managed the project – she was on-site four hours per day – and, together, the couple clothed the interior spaces. “We had a strong vision of what we wanted and we decided that we would build and furnish the house ourselves and if we didn’t like it at the end, then we would hire an interior designer to fix it,” Peggy says with a laugh. Inspired by European architecture, the couple, who are avid travelers, wanted to emulate the feel and flavour of Italian design as well as create a feeling of being in the park with three-storey glass curtain walls, wide-open spaces for entertaining, a fabulous kitchen and a “nice wine cellar.” 14 • D O M U S • s p r i n g | s u m m e r 2 01 2