Beautiful homes evolve from innovative designs, but who creates those designs? Sometimes it’s a team of people working together, and other times it’s a talented individual who envisions a home and draws up the plans to make it a reality. Some creative types go one step further and not only design a home, but build it too. Thom Davis of Davis Design Inc. is one such talented designer.

Thom says that he went to McGill for a couple of years and then moved on from there. “I went to McGill straight out of high school, but after I had filled some of my prerequisites, I trained at what used to be called The Technical University of Nova Scotia, and is now known as DalTech,” says Thom. “I graduated in 1991 with my Masters in Architecture and, in 1993, I began my own company.” In 1994, Davis Design was incor­po­rated and Thom now designs homes as well as builds them. “Davis Design Inc. is a high-end custom home builder, and I do all my own designs,” says Thom, “I normally build homes that are specifi­cally designed for my clients.”

One floor plan Thom has recently designed is one inked just for the pleasure of designing a beautiful home. “This home has both modern and traditional features,” says Thom. “It is sort of a cross between a Swiss villa and a ’70s ranch.”

This attractive four-bedroom home offers a spacious 1,612 square-feet on the main floor, 1,916 square-feet on the second floor, and because the plan includes a developed basement, the lower level offers another 1,600 square-feet. “I designed this home to be a sort of Brady Bunch house with a modern design, but with lots of bathrooms for a large family,” says Thom. “I really enjoyed exploring what I could do, and pushing the limits with this design. There’s a real honesty to the materials and I was able to be more elaborate with the finish.” From the spacious porch and the unique shape to the front of the home, to the beautiful front entrance and the luxurious hardwood flooring, you can tell this home is truly amazing right from the front door. Both the study and the living room are facing at an angle, which is quite unique, and the impressive fireplace straddled by windows is sure to be an amazing focal point of the home.

However, as you move into the interior of the house, you will discover plenty of unique and wonderful features, including the spacious kitchen and the immense cooking island that spans the entire length of the room. This leaves the kitchen open to both the dining room and the nook, while the angled design of the rear of the home is accentuated with the abundance of windows and the light they allow in.

One handy feature most people will immediately appreciate is the huge walk-in pantry via a sliding pocket door—a gourmet chef’s dream as well as a perk designed with a large family in mind.

Upstairs, the master bedroom boasts a trio of skylights—two in the luxurious ensuite, and another in the unique walk-in closet. The closet stands out not only due to its skylight illuminating the space, but also thanks to two entrances, which make it more of a walk-through.

Another atypical design feature is a bathroom nestled between two secondary bedrooms. Both rooms have private water closets with skylights, and access to the bathtub area via pocket doors, lending privacy while still enabling users to share the main feature. Clever use of pocket doors throughout the home, in fact, effectively maximizes the available space—eliminating the need for space of swinging doors.

Thom has created countless unique design features and incorporated a myriad interesting ideas throughout this plan, punctuating his flair for architecture.  NL