Cranston is well-located for easy access to Calgary’s amenities via Marquis of Lorne Trail and Deerfoot Trail. Shopping possibilities include Shawnessy, McKenzie Towne, and the fast-growing super-centre at Deerfoot Meadows.

In Cranston, Greenboro is presenting three interesting collections of high-end homes. There’s an entire cul-de-sac devoted to Greenboro homes with three-car garages, priced from $359,900 to $416,900. And three is not too many for a household with a motorcycle, a sailboat – or a 16-year-old.

Greenboro’s other offerings in Cranston are in the estate home area on the west side of the community, including some spectacular sites along the escarpment high above the Bow River. The view stretches unobstructed all the way to the Rocky Mountains.

In the centre of the estate-home area of Cranston, Greenboro is presenting its Marsalis model as a show home at 50 Cranleigh Way.

Guests coming into the spacious foyer have a welcoming view of the home’s large, central dining area, warmed by a gas fireplace in a handsome ashlar stone surround. The stone trim is repeated in the supports of an eating bar at one side of the dining area.

A huge sweep of dark hardwood flooring ties together the foyer, dining area and kitchen. This would be a wonderful home for entertaining.

The great room is a more intimate space at the back of the main floor. It’s behind the two-sided fireplace that also warms the dining area, with two steps down from the main floor. With its 10-foot ceiling height, the great room feels spacious yet cosy, an ideal place for conversation.

A spacious flex room is also provided on the main floor, just beside the foyer. It could be a home office, a TV room, or anything else a busy family requires.

The kitchen includes a practical island with ample workspace and an electrical outlet, plus storage accessible from two sides. Kitchen cabinets are available in oak, maple, white or antique white, with a selection of stains for the wood. A step-in pantry provides plenty of storage next to the refrigerator.

The mud room opens off the garage, providing coat storage and laundry space, including a counter surface for sorting. This route from the garage is only a few steps from the kitchen. A powder room, discreetly concealed from the home’s public spaces, completes the main floor.

Upstairs, a skylight brightens the corridor leading to the three bedrooms. There’s also a bonus room at the rear of the house.

A full bath serves the two smaller bedrooms, while the master bedroom has an impressive ensuite that includes a large walk-in closet, a soaker tub, a spacious shower stall, a wide vanity with one sink, and a separate room for the water closet. The generously-sized master bedroom has room for a sitting area.

This 2,410 square foot show home, which includes some upgrades, has been sold for $384,000. Greenboro homes in the area are priced from $333,000.

At the high end of Greenboro’s show homes in Cranston, the Staten is a 2,935 square foot model priced at $941,600, including $288,000 worth of upgrades.

An impressive price, but it includes a million-dollar view. The show home at 5 Cranleigh Heights includes a walk-out basement and two upper floors, all looking west across the Bow Valley and onward to the Rocky Mountains.

Building lots with this sort of view are rare and highly prized. It’s worth noting that another phase of Cranston development, including choice ravine and ridge locations, has just been released for sale.
Entering the Staten, visitors can see through the dining room and great room, all the way to a great expanse of windows opening on the mountain view.

With its wide, arched openings in the walls, the dining room feels like a pavilion, open yet sheltered at the same time. In the show home, its two side windows open onto a green space beside the house, with a pathway leading down into the Bow Valley and Fish Creek Park.

The great room has an impressive fireplace, but the view is unquestionably the star of the show. A patio door opens onto a deck, with a railing of glass panels between stone piers, overlooking the mountains.

A spacious dining nook also looks out onto the deck and directly westward to the mountains. The kitchen is equipped with wall ovens and a cooktop. An island with a raised eating bar provides more cook space and houses the sink and dishwasher. Of course, the cook also gets to enjoy the view.

The only corner of the house without a view is devoted to practical uses like the laundry room, a home office and a powder room.

A handsome curved staircase leads to the upper floor, and a pleasant surprise: a light, open sitting area that opens onto a balcony at the front of the house.

There are two smaller bedrooms and a full bath, but the showstopper on this floor is the master suite. The bedroom has ample space for a sitting area in a bay window overlooking the view. The ensuite bath includes a large walk-in closet, a soaker tub, and a shower stall with a rainfall head in the ceiling.

The walkout basement (reached by another curved staircase) includes another 1,047 square feet of development. There’s a space big enough for a pool table and a home theatre, plus a bedroom and bathroom.

The show home includes one more interesting feature: a third garage bay at the side, deep enough to park two cars end-to end. Upstairs is a roomy, well-lighted space that could be an artist’s studio or an exercise room.