Al and Cheryl loved the open-concept post and beam style of Linwood Homes. They wanted something unique and custom when it came time to build their own retirement home.
After searching the real estate listings, the couple couldn’t find a home that met all of their needs. They decided to go with Linwood Homes and create something entirely their own.
Watch the video to tour this elegant, rustic home and hear our client’s heartwarming testimonial about their project in Ontario!
An Escape from the City
Al and Cheryl wanted to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life in their retirement.
They planned to move to Calabogie, ON which is roughly 5h away from the Toronto downtown core.
“We moved here about four or five years ago, we had to get out of the city, the city was just crazy. So we decided to come up to Calabogie of all places.”
The two set out on the biggest DIY project ever, building their own dream home. While researching builders, architects, and designers, they decided to learn more about Linwood. In Ontario, Linwood Homes used to offer a dedicated bus tour of all of the homes that had been built recently in the area. Al and Cheryl were able to join one of these immersive tours.
“We’ve never built a home. So we thought, let’s give this a whirl. So we started doing our research. And we looked at all different kinds of homes, construction companies, and everything. We ended up meeting up with Chris Fleming, (Linwood Homes Project Advisor) who took us on a bus tour of the homes one day. So we went to all the homes that Linwood had been building. And that did it. We were impressed with that. We said, Okay, we like Linwood, we like what they’re doing here.”
After the initial tour, Al and Cheryl set out to create their ideal home design. They explain what it’s like to work with Linwood’s dedicated Project Advisors in order to create a model that is completely new and their own.
“So it was just a matter of deciding what you wanted to put together in the house that you want. And it was a really good experience. Actually, it was a lot of fun. It was really exciting. And the nice thing about it too, is that it’s very custom. So even though you pick a plan, you can pretty much do whatever you want from there. And that was that was fun. I was going through quite a few renditions of our design.”
Support During Construction
At Linwood Homes, our team is committed to keeping you up-to-date on the status of your project. There are many different moving pieces when it comes to custom construction and we know that good communication is the key to excellent results. Al and Cheryl were living in Toronto during their build. Even though they were 5h away from their build site, they still had daily progress updates from our team.
“We were living in Toronto and were building Calabogie. We were still in the selling process, living, working, doing our life there. And we had to build up here and we couldn’t come. So Chris was was exceptionally good with that. He was taking videos and pictures. In the evenings, we’d get online with Chris to see how our build was going. That kind of thing made all the difference for us. Every day we saw we had a nice little review of where we were.”
This is often the case when our clients are building, they still have to work, spend time with family and be involved with things that come up in their busy, daily lives. Custom building is something that truly requires a dedicated team, that is why our Project Advisors are there to coordinate your project and keep you updated and connected with the progress of your build.
Accessible Living and Unique Design Needs
Multi-family living and multi-family homes have become much more popular in recent years. It’s something that many homes on the market today cannot accommodate without significant renovations and custom home building is an excellent solution.
“My father-in-law lives with us, and we wanted to make sure that we were on one floor and all our kids that come up were on another. We put them downstairs, they have their own home sweet home. They can do whatever they have to do. Plus we entertain. So this whole open concept look of things was quite good for us.”
Linwood Homes is experienced in meeting unique multi-family design needs such as the needs Al and Cheryl had for their project. They wanted their children to have a space at the cottage to come to visit, while also maintaining a quiet area for their father-in-law and their own living space. Open concept design is ideal for these scenarios. There is plenty of space for entertaining, with enough space for privacy as well.
At the end of the day, custom home building is a lengthy process. It is not always easy and it takes a lot of work and involvement. But in the end, you will have a home to last for generations to come. Our streamlined process, dedicated team, and pre-cut method provide the complete building solution for you and your family.
As Al and Cheryl said: “If we were ever to do this again, and it’s a lot of work and you know, in towards the end too, it got to be a bit tiring because there are so many decisions to make, but I would do it again. I would work with Linwood again for sure. Absolutely. They helped us through the process. The design guys know their stuff. It’s huge, and I think we got really good quality in a home.”
