3 minute read
Dream Home Rising
Marquis Custom Homes creates unique, detail-rich lottery house
WORDS JOE LEARY
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PHOTOGRAPHY SHEILA SAY
Hometown Heroes Lottery spokespeople Sebastian Sevallo and Karen Khunkhun.
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As president and owner of Marquis Custom Homes and Developments, Kam Dhami specializes in high-end residential construction services around the Lower Mainland, integrating distinctive homes into surrounding communities and neighbourhoods.
Being selected to design this year’s Home- town Heroes Lottery Grand Prize Home— occupying 5,764 square feet of living space along with a 400-square-foot garage—is the realization of a dream.
In support of the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation and the BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund, ticket purchases raise funds for the most urgent hospital needs and support first responder resilience programs.
“I’m honoured that my project was chosen for this year’s lottery,” he says, adding, “I think it’s important to support our local hospitals, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a need now more than ever to donate and support the hospitals and the frontline staff and first responders in our communities.”
Angela Chapman, president and CEO of the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, agrees.
“In recent weeks our frontline staff have devoted themselves to preparing to care for COVID-19 patients,” she says. “For years, lottery funds have helped to ensure that medical teams in BC have the tools and equipment they need to save lives. On behalf of the foundation, I’d like to thank everyone who supports the Hometown Heroes Lottery, allowing our health care heroes to be here for us.”
Kam has purchased his share of lottery home tickets over the years and viewed the previous prize homes offered. He says he continually strives to create spaces that function to support the everyday lives of families by giving them places to enjoy the start and end of their days together.
And what a space it is!
Built in a “boutique contemporary living” style, it has clean lines and neutral tones and uses high-end materials. The open-concept plan boasts four bedrooms on the upper level, each with its own private bathroom; in total, the house has five bedrooms and six full bathrooms.
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This stunning structure, situated on an 8,340-squarefoot lot, offers soaring,10-foot-high ceilings on the main floor, a fully landscaped garden with built-in irrigation and covered terrace, one gas and three electric fireplaces and a spacious chef ’s kitchen with Fisher & Paykel range top. The kitchen also has a wall oven and 48-inch fridge, replete with warm-wood finishes, stone countertops and a 10-foot-long breakfast bar.
“To start a project like this I take into account its location near the White Rock Pier and the certain way the sun falls, in order to maximize the amount of light that comes into the house and make it feel like a home,” he says. “I didn’t want it to look too modern. I wanted a nice balance and something that would look timeless.”
A trademark of Marquis Custom Homes is a passionate pursuit of detail-rich, value-driven design and high-quality construction that provides customers with a masterfully planned and executed living environment. “Every home I do is unique; I never do a house the same as I’ve done before,” Kam says. “I’ve had requests for homes to have a bowling alley. . .and someone wants the entire front of their car posted in the back, calling it the Cadillac Grill. The guy is into cars, big-time. I don’t know how we’re actually going to put the front end of a Cadillac up there, but it sounds like an awesome challenge.”
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He adds: “I want to give customers what they want— something they can look at and say, ‘it’s what I wanted and I got.’”
As for the Grand Prize Home, located at 1553 Cory Road in White Rock, Kam can envision some of the ideal recipients, given its layout and grandeur: “Young families along with older couples,” he says. “It kind of encompasses everybody.”
Truly the only limit of home design is one’s imagination.
