OCTAVE KITCHEN HITS HIGH NOTE
When Gus Villanueva is at the stove, good things happen.
So when he and his wife Sorayda Villanueva decided it was time to downsize, the kitchen was something they kept in mind.
“My husband is like the Iron Chef,” says Sorayda. “He likes to cook Spanish, Mexican, Italian, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese — everything.
“He makes porchetta, papaya, he invents things,” she adds. “We’ll go somewhere to eat something ... he’ll focus on making it better at home. Then once he’s perfected it, we have people over.”
This will continue at the Octave in the north Calgary community of Livingston, where the couple bought a new townhome. Brookfield Residential’s latest multifamily development launched pre- construction sales earlier this year.
The Octave will build out to 129 townhomes, including both stacked single-level and multilevel formats. Buyers can pick from 11 floor plans in one-, twoand three-bedroom orientations, ranging from 742 to 1,240 square feet. Depending on the floor plan, they include a single, tandem, or double-attached garage.
The current starting price is in the mid-$200,000s, which includes the GST.
“Customer feedback has been really positive,” says Kelly Halliday, Brookfield’s business development manager."They love the location within Livingston, it’s right next to the corridor, so there’s really easy access in and out of the community.
“They love the overall architecture,” she adds. “It’s going to be a beautiful development upon completion.”
Show homes for Octave will open in mid-2018.
But in the meantime, potential buyers — such as the Villanuevas — are getting a taste of the floor plans available through existing show homes in the Link at Symons Gate development, which is by the same builder.
This is where the Villanuevas saw the Carmine II, which is the floor plan they bought at the Octave.
“When I walk into a place, I have to feel it,” Sorayda says. “When we walked into the Carmine II, it was like wow, this is doable. I can entertain in this, live in this.”
On the Symons Gate show home, “I’ve been there a lot,” adds Sorayda, who often has a tape measure with her as she plans where things will eventually go in her new home.
“I’ve brought my family there, my friends. I’m a regular.”
The couple appreciate the openconcept main level, and of course, the cooking space impressed.
“When we walked in the first thing we saw was the huge island,” an improvement over what’s in their current home, says Sorayda, “It was perfect.”
With its extended eating bar, “if it’s just the two of us, we can sit there and eat.”
They also liked the full-height kitchen cabinets and that they had the ability to upgrade their stove to a gas range.
“It has a little nook off the kitchen that I can use it as an office space because I work from home,” Sorayda says. She’s an IT analyst, who has worked for Alberta Health Services since 1994.
People who buy a townhome at the Octave will have the chance to work with an interior designer for guidance on their interior selections — something the Villanuevas look forward to.
“I like everything light and bright,” Sorayda says. “The lighter it is, it just makes everything more spacious.”
She’s glad to be away from the tones her home had when they bought in the 1990s.
“The colours were green, burgundy with cherry wood. Neutrals, she adds, “stand the test of time.”
The Villanuevas have been living in a 2,200-square-foot home in the northwest community of Panorama Hills for 17 years. With their two adult children spending more time away from home, it was time Gus and Sorayda found something that better suited their current living arrangement.
“That’s pretty big, when it’s just you, your dog and husband,” says Sorayda of their single- family home. They have a bichon-shih tzu named Meikyo.
“It costs too much to heat it, and all of the bills associated with it,” she adds. “For two people, it’s ridiculous.”
She remembers, shortly after finishing dinner this past Thanksgiving, deciding it was time to venture out and explore their options. Livingston fit the bill.
“We liked the proximity from our (current home),” says Sorayda, adding it took about seven minutes. “I actually timed it.”
Livingston straddles Centre Street, west of Deerfoot Trail. The
site measures 519 hectares, making it about one-third of the size of Okotoks. The community formally launched with its first show home parade in March.
“It’s close to everything that’s important to me, which is Superstore, (T&T Supermarket), and Costco,” Sorayda says, laughing. “It’s the trifecta.”
Livingston is one of the first communities in Calgary approved under the current municipal development plan. This helped make it possible for a major activity centre and urban corridor along Centre Street to be included in the community plan.
To Sorayda, who is regularly out for walks with her dog, pathways and open space were important, and she was impressed by what she saw in the plan for Livingston.
Among the many community features is a 30,000-square-foot homeowners’ association facility, larger than many buildings of this kind.
“The No. 1 thing for my husband, the (HOA facility) is going to have two tennis courts,” says Sorayda. She says he mentioned it before they drove back the next day to ask questions about the community and “when they said there were going to be tennis courts, his eyes lit up.”