SHAKING THINGS UP
Claridge redesigns its towns to appeal to young families
Your first impression is of light, space, airiness, even elegance. Your next? How easily you could live here.
Those are precisely the feelings you’re meant to have when you visit one of Claridge’s new Aspire townhomes. The Aspires, which come in a variety of models and sizes, share two common features: an appealing openness and a focused practicality.
It’s a rethink, says Claridge vicepresident Shawn Malhotra.
“We redesigned our whole townhome lineup about a year ago. We felt that we needed to cater to today’s young family.”
And today’s young family tends to appreciate designs that emphasize open-concept living spaces, clean elegance and practical responses to the needs of busy parents and children.
So there are features like graceful curved staircases, their dark solid oak gleaming, conjuring up images of grand entrances. There are open kitchens and dining areas that facilitate home entertaining. In the bathrooms, there are stylish faucets accenting chic vessel sinks. The handsomeness is undeniable.
But Claridge’s new townhome look is more than just another pretty face.
The Aspire collection also boasts features such as broad straight staircases to the finished basement (yes, you can move that big couch downstairs without breaking a sweat). Mud room entrances are wider, main bathrooms are family-size, walk-in closets are truly walk-in, upper kitchen cabinets are 36 inches. In some models, there are even full-sized pantries.
“It’s a full revamp,” says Leah Randall, Claridge’s sales representative at Summerhill Village, where the new townhomes were unveiled this spring. Along with other sales reps, Randall was involved in the redesign process that resulted in the Aspire line. “We were trying to give people more of what we knew they wanted, things you don’t necessarily think of at first — like having those straight stairs down to the basement.”
They also wanted to create different models with an eye to different demographics. “The Horizon, for instance, has more of a traditional feel and might appeal to empty nesters. For something more contemporary, with a bit of a condo feel, we came up with the Infinity.”
At the same time, she says, they wanted to create spaces that were airier and even more open than Claridge’s previous townhomes.
It’s the presence of light that is so striking at the Eclipse, one of the models on view at Summerhill Village. The Eclipse was decorated by Randall and her mother, Pamela Tobin, also a Claridge sales rep. The pair, who have been decorating Claridge models for more than a year now, worked to capitalize on the light from the large windows.
“We wanted to accent that, playing up the openness and the opportunity for entertaining.”
Summerhill’s Aspire collection, which is also offered at four other Claridge communities, consists of 11 floor plans, each quite different from the next. (There were two additional floor plans, both corner units with double garages — a rarity in townhomes — but they were snapped up almost immediately.)
Randall says the mid-range Horizon (1,985 square feet, starting at $329,900) is the most popular model. On view at Summerhill, it boasts a large entrance and curved staircase.
“People walk in,” she says, “and they find it quite grand.”
Upstairs, the master bedroom — large enough to accommodate a king-sized bed without looking cramped — is accessed through double doors. Its ensuite bathroom has double sinks. A laundry room is conveniently located off the hallway.
In the basement — finished, like all the Aspire models — a gas fireplace sits smartly in a corner and windows let in plenty of light.
Each Aspire model has a different layout. Some, like the Horizon, offer more defined dining areas, a compromise feature for those who prefer marginally less openness. Some, like the smaller Azure (1,620 square feet, starting at $293,000) lack the curved main staircase that is the eye candy of models like the Horizon. The large-sized Infinity and Trillium models (from 2,170 to 2,255 square feet, and from $336,900 to $344,900) offer fourbedroom models, as well as three.
But all Aspire models feature pronounced practicality wedded to a distinctive elegance of design. Upgrades, in such predictable areas as kitchen counters, flooring and carpet underpadding, only enhance what is already attractive. The granite is rich and the upgraded hardwood and ceramic floors handsome.
Claridge is currently offering a $3,000 design centre bonus to get buyers started on any upgrades they might want to choose.
And yet, the standard Aspire (viewable in a Clarity model at Summerhill) is not bare-bones at all. It offers such nice touches as stylish plumbing and light fixtures, water-saving dual-flush toilets and oversized shower heads. And builder upgrades that are included in even its standard formats include kitchen potlights, wide-plank hardwood floors, and ceramic tile in kitchen, breakfast area, laundry room and all bathrooms.
For Malhotra, the Aspire collection is a smart new riff on the tried and true. “We are proud to have come up with a contemporary take on our traditional towns.”
“People love them,” adds Mirjana Opat, Claridge’s marketing coordinator. “They’re really quite revolutionary.”