Dream home was a template for a more modest version
Custom house sold for $150,000 more than the cost of building it
Irwin Ster mer, a real estate developer in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, lived in the same house for more than two decades, raising his three children with his wife, Marla. Stermer was developing the last tract of land in that city, on what had been farms, and in 2003, he decided to keep the biggest lot for himself so he could build a dream home for his family.
By this time, the couple were well established in their careers (Marla manages websites), so they could afford a house that had everything they’d always wanted.
“I’d started building more high-end properties and learning about expensive finishes,” Stermer said. “I was keen to use some of those quality materials for a home of our own, but we took our time to get things just right. Marla and I spent months and months looking through magazines and gathering ideas.”
When Stermer was ready to draw up a construction plan, he contacted a draftsman familiar with city building regulations whom he’d met while working on his other real estate projects. Stermer then sourced a team of subcontractors to help him build the couple’s dream home.
The end result was a twostorey, 4,700-square-foot luxury residence with a granite exterior that incorporated such custom features as heated floors, a double oven in the kitchen, a multi-car garage, a two-sided fireplace and a huge balcony.
“We got a little carried away,” Stermer said. “I think we went a bit crazy. The stone exterior alone cost a fortune. It couldn’t be installed by a bricklayer, so we had to hire a stonemason — a real artisan — who chiselled chunks of rock into rectangular pieces. That cost $100,000! It looked absolutely beautiful but ... ”
The cost aside, the couple loved their new home. But three years after they moved in, a real-estate agent rang the Stermers’ doorbell and asked if they’d be interested in selling because a potential buyer had his eye on the luxury house. Stermer, not taking the offer seriously, threw out an “unheard-of figure,” fully expecting the agent to go on her way. To his amazement, her client agreed to the price and, says, Stermer, he ended up selling the house for $150,000 more than it cost to build.
While they enjoyed their windfall, reality quickly set in. They didn’t want to move away from Dollard-des-Ormeaux, and they knew they’d miss their custom-made home. As luck would have it, Stermer was able to acquire a plot of land around the corner, and while it was slightly smaller than the first, it was certainly large enough to build another sizable house.
The Stermers got back in touch with the same draftsman and subcontractors, and the new house was finished in about six months.
The second house has nearly all the features of the couple’s former home but on a more modest scale.
The yard is fairly small, so Stermer made the most of the internal space. “One of the things I did was to create a large sitting area in the master bedroom where we could relax in the evenings.”
“Although the layout is a little different, we duplicated almost everything. In the kitchen, for instance, we chose the same tiles, the same lighting, the same windows, the same potlights. However, when it came time to build this house, we realized the things we were using and the things that we were NOT using, so we were able to be a bit more realistic.”
To the untrained eye, this house looks much the same as the first one, but the exterior, for example, is covered in stone veneer, which costs half the price of granite.
The new house occupies 4,200 square feet on three floors (plus a basement) and it encompasses six bedrooms (one is a home office), four bathrooms (plus a powder room), an open kitchen/dining room, a family room, a poolroom, a formal dining room and a large vestibule.
The hardwood flooring in the vestibule is made of birch, which Stermer installed at an angle, “to give an attractive visual effect.” The vestibule opens into the poolroom, where the ceiling is three metres high. The ceiling is encircled by tall mouldings, which allow the heating ducts to be hidden. Other structural features are encased in faux pillars, skilfully finished by a carpenter’s hand.
The doors in the vestibule have custom-made leaded glass panes bevelled at the edges.
“I love leaded glass!” Marla said. “Irwin and I are keen cyclists, and we’ve biked quite a bit in upstate New York and New England. We used to admire the beautiful doors on some of the houses, and here we were lucky enough to find an excellent glassworker to create the look we wanted.”
Although the interior of the house is ultra-luxurious, the overall effect is welcoming and homey. Marla loves “warm, vivacious colours,” and butterscotch, caramel and tomato red predominate, with accents of ivory, black and mahogany.
The for maldining room combines sienna walls with dark antique furniture, silverware and porcelain dishes (“I inherited those from a wealthy aunt”) displayed in two, glass-fronted cabinets. A crystal chandelier hangs above the table. At the far end, a bay window is framed by burnt orange and butterscotch swags.
The family room, which the couple use when entertaining close friends, is far less formal. Furnished with plump, comfy sofas and reupholstered chairs with a floral motif (they once belonged to Marla’s mother), it has one wall of windows and another wall covered with floor-to-ceiling shelving. A giant television sits in the middle of it, surrounded by photos and ornaments.
The focal point of the room is a wood-burning fireplace (“I guess we’ll have to substitute that for gas when the law changes”), which, like the exterior of the house, is made of stone veneer rather than the real thing.
According to Stermer, this house is probably the last one he’ll build for himself and Marla.
They will probably downsize in the not-too-distant future (two of their adult children have already flown the coop) and they might even move away from Dollard-des-Ormeaux.
“From time to time, we talk about selling,” Stermer said.
“We quite like the idea of moving to somewhere like Ste-Anne-deBellevue. Out there, the homes are being bought for their huge lots, but many of the homes are old and they’re not very big. Even if I renovated an existing house or a bungalow, I doubt some of the furniture from this house would fit into a much smaller space.”