53 Steeplechase Ave., Aurora, Ont.
Asking price: $8.8-million
Taxes: $27,255.00 (2015)
Lot size: 191 feet by 1,272 feet
Listing agents: Verna DeBono, Saleswoman, and Jerry Hammond, broker of record, Hammond International Properties Ltd., Brokerage
Chandu and Sharmi Patel’s dream home started off as a forest.
The couple were looking for the right plot of land to build on when they came across the six-acre lot in on Steeplechase Avenue in Aurora, near Bayview Avenue and Bloomington Road.
Back in 1995, the lot was dotted with young trees and a winding dirt road. And though the forest was sparse, the Patels realized that they wanted to build a home that incorporated it.
“We did not want to take away from the forest,” Mrs. Patel said. “We knew that without this forest, there is no house.”
The back story
Before they could start building, the Patels did have to cut down about 500 trees. They cleared a patch of land far back from the street so there was still plenty of forest cushioning them from cars. (And over the years, they have spend around $600,000 on landscaping – including many newly planted trees.)
From there, they brought in architect Francis Lapointe and together they began to devise an ambitious plan to build an 11,500-square-foot, five-bedroom, seven-bathroom modern mansion that was not only intricate in its design but also mechanically sophisticated.
“She told them what we wanted,” Mr. Patel said of his wife.
“And I said we wanted a modern home with lots of light,” Mrs. Patel added. “We told [Mr. Lapointe] everything, like a flat roof, big windows and square shapes.”
Mr. Lapointe came up with drawings that actualized their vision.
“Eighty-five to 90 per cent of that sketch is reflected in the house now,” Mr. Patel said.
From a design point of view, there are a few themes that echo throughout the house. The first is suspension. Most of the built-ins, such as the cabinets in the master bedroom, seem to hover and the kitchen island looks like it’s floating out from a granite wall.
Then there are the geometric shapes. The house is mainly composed of a series of rectangles and cubes but peppered throughout there are some triangular accents (such as some support beams in the main-floor office) and many circles.
“We tried to bring the circles into this square box just to break it up,” said Mrs. Patel, pointing to circular designs on glass partitions and curved walls.
The other element essential element of the home is light – both natural and artificial. The home boasts 538 pot lights that are all on dimmers.
“They are grouped together so the effect at night time is stunning,” Mr. Patel said.
And Mrs. Patel passionately championed the use of the biggest possible windows in most areas of the house, despite some pushback from the builders.
“Sometimes I was very bull-headed [about my design] and if I hadn’t been, we wouldn’t have these front windows,” she said, gesturing the towering, two-storey windows at the front entrance and in the back of the home.
Windows were also strategically placed at the end of each hallway in order to bring the forest into the home.
“There are no drapes – even in the bathrooms but there are electric blinds but we never use them,” Mrs. Patel said. “This is because light is a big factor [of this home]. It brings in so much energy.”
But it wasn’t just Mrs. Patel’s big windows that challenged the builders.
Mr. Patel, an engineer by trade, also pushed for top-of-line European mechanical systems. Most of them are housed in the main mechanical room, which is pristinely white and completely uncluttered. It houses a series of labelled pipes, the security and electrical systems and not one, but two, German-designed boilers (one is a redundancy).
For real estate agent Verna Debono, the home’s complexity in both design and engineer makes it a true luxury property. Ms. Debono, who only deals with in the high-end market, believes that there is a real appetite for a home like this from international buyers.
“There are two things that the international market – especially the Asian market – loves: one – land and square footage and two – light,” Ms. Debono said.
She said the international buyers are using these types of properties as a land bank.
“Transactions that we’re seeing are international buyers purchasing and holding on to properties for extended periods of time,” she said. “And because we’ve seen such steady growth [in the Toronto real estate market], the return is greater than putting your funds into anything else.”
The Patels have witnessed this demographic shift in their 40 years in the area. They first moved to Canada in the mid-1970s and back then, it was local entrepreneurs and CEOs who owned all of the luxury homes in the region. Now, it’s largely overseas buyers.
Favourite features
Without a doubt, both Mr. and Mrs. Patel agree that the forest is the standout feature of their home. And for that reason they truly love the family room, located just off the kitchen and dining room on the main level.
Even though that section of the house is open concept, the family room is slightly sunken and has a dropped ceiling to create an intimate space. It also has two walls of windows looking out on the back of the property.
“We don’t have any paintings because the scenery around us is constantly changing,” Mr. Patel said.
The forest also colours their home, which they purposely kept all white.
“In the winter, the walls are totally white but in the fall you get hues of yellow and red,” Mrs. Patel said.
As they close out this chapter of their lives, the Patels are sad to be leaving the home but know it’s time to move on.
“We came as immigrants with nothing,” Mrs. Patel said. “So this house was a like a dream. It brought a lot of joy to a lot of people.”