The ‘Wow!’ factor starts as soon as you step up to the eight-foot tall by 42-inch wide over-sized front door and enter into the dropped foyer area. To the right, on the same floor plane, is a den with a13-foot raised ceiling. “Stepping up into the rest of the home gives people a real sense of arrival,” says Jack Stricharuk, Albi’s Community Manager for Cranston Estates.

When you do step up into the main household, heading for the great room, you’re treading on genuine North American walnut hardwood. The great room itself is graced by a 21-foot vaulted ceiling and highlighted by a stone-accented fireplace and gorgeous cherry paneling that stretches all the way from mantel to ceiling. With the vaulted ceiling, the paneling is very impressive, but even in a pure bungalow non-loft design, there’s still enough wall height to make this an extremely eye-catching feature.

In this open-concept main floor, the great room flows right into a kitchen which, says Stricharuk, “is probably the most important part of this house.” What makes the kitchen truly unique is its use of two different islands, one for food preparation and one for dining. “Albi is known for our kitchens, and this is no exception,” says Stricharuk.

Granite countertops — and there is a generous amount of counter space — are standard, as are cherry cabinets and drawers with strong dovetail joints. A natural stone tile counter-to-ceiling backsplash adds some welcome contrast to the smooth texture of the counters and stainless steel appliances. Transom windows overtop of the main kitchen windows allow warm sunlight to pour in even when the main window blinds are drawn. With three sinks and two separate dishwashers, this kitchen was designed with entertaining in mind. Indeed, to make serving dinner guests even easier, the butler’s pantry (which has its own dishwasher and sink) can be built with optional sliding French doors which open into the spacious formal dining room.

For family members, accessing the home from the garage leads to a practical, yet no less impressive, entry area with huge cherry paneled lockers for coat and boot storage. Just off the garage entry, the two-piece main floor bathroom features a custom vanity with undermount sink rather than the usual pedestal-style fixture.

This is just one of the many “Albi-isms” Stricharuk refers to when describing the home, pointing out details like the width and gentle slope of stairways, the distance between kitchen counters and islands, the maple and wrought iron finishing work on stairways and the clean sightlines throughout the home. Many of these details are the kind of things that add to the overall feel of the home, but that, at first glance, you can’t really put your finger on.

Things like using rubber carpet underlay instead of the less durable foam chip product, and wood, instead of plastic or metal, for cold air return vents. “We’ve thought of every detail,” says

Stricharuk, “including how to change the light bulbs in the chandelier over the stairway.” Given the height of the ceilings and location of the stairs, that could be a potential problem — except Albi has included an electric lift system hidden above the chandelier. The home also features the Control 4 home automation system, which allows you to adjust lighting, temperature, play music, check the weather and set the security system (security and vacu-flo systems are roughed-in) from a couple of master consoles. If you program it correctly, says Stricharuk, you can even access the system from a remote site. For example, you can program the lights or heat to come on at a certain time — meaning you never have to come home to a cold dark house again!

Continuing on the main floor, the master bedroom is accessed via double French doors off the great room, again with a transom window above which allows light to flow through the home. A short hallway to the actual bedroom area means there’s plenty of privacy. Even with the doors open, it’s impossible to see directly into the actual bedroom area. While the sleeping area itself is large enough, and the ceiling detail certainly adds character to the space, it’s the ensuite that’s the star of the show here. It’s difficult to tell what hits you first — the warmth of the in-floor radiant heating caressing your soles through the ceramic tile floor, or the awesomeness of the gigantic freestanding tub. Of course the bathroom also has marble countertops with his and hers sinks and a separate water closet with dual flush toilet. Walking through the ensuite leads to the walk-in closet, with plenty of built-in shelving and optional washer/dryer hook-up.

Upstairs, in the loft area, the interior designer has opted for a baby grand piano where many would likely put a TV and lounging area. The two upstairs bedrooms are large by children’s bedroom standards and feel even larger thanks to the huge windows (Low E, of course) in each. A full three-piece bathroom completes the upper level.

While basement development is always an option, Albi has gone all-out in this particular show home. “This home is designed for a family that entertains a lot,” says Stricharuk, “probably with teenagers.” The bungalow with loft design, he says, has the kids upstairs while without the loft the bedrooms could be downstairs. In this show home, with the loft, the extra rooms downstairs have been turned into a yoga space (complete with cork floor) and a well-equipped craft area — it even has a cork-topped table for pinning down and cutting out fabric patterns — which doubles as another laundry room.

“The finishing in the basement is the same quality as in the rest of the home,” says Stricharuk. Walking down the stairs, that’s immediately obvious. To the right is a full wall-length built-in shelving unit which has been decorated as a reading nook but which could easily be turned into an additional office or study area. At the bottom of the stairs is the games and home theatre area, while to the left is a wet bar and wine room. The same heated tile floors, granite countertops and stone accents found in the rest of the home are continued down here, to spectacular effect.

The home is just as impressive on the outside. The exterior finishing is textured acrylic stucco with stone accents. The acrylic stucco, says Stricharuk, has deeper colour tones and is more water resistant than traditional stucco.

It’s more durable and less likely to fade. The lots being sold are significantly larger than the lot the show home sits on, meaning they can accommodate the three car garage called for in the architect’s plan and that the deck will be facing in more of a westerly direction right along the ridge overlooking the Bow River valley, and with a 100-mile view all the way to the Rocky Mountains.

So what do you pay for a lifestyle like this? It’s all in the options. Luckily, Albi is as detailed with their list of upgrades as they are with everything else, making it easy to tailor a home design to your needs. If you like the Messina show home as is (and who wouldn’t?) the price point is a little over $975,000. Ridge lots start around $350,000.

FAST FACTS:
BUILDER: Albi Homes 
AREA: Cranston Estates
DEVELOPER: Carma
STYLE: Bungalow with loft (optional)
SIZE: 2,910 sq. ft.
PRICE: $976,000 (plus lot & GST)
ADDRESS: 277 Cranarch Circle S.E.
DIRECTIONS: Deerfoot Trail to Cranston Ave., West on Cranston Ave. then left at Cranarch Road, right on Cranarch Way and right again at Cranarch Circle.
HOURS: Monday to Thursday, 2 to 8 p.m., Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays noon to 5 p.m.

For more information, visit http://www.albihomes.com