This gorgeous 2,551-square-foot, four-bedroom home in the lakeside community of Mahogany has invariably inspired this same response from everyone that has had the fortunate experience of visiting the show home since it opened three months ago.

“Everyone just falls in love with the Oak Bay instantly. In all my years of working in show homes, this is the first time I’ve encountered anything like it,” says area manager Mary Anderson.  “People are saying it’s their favourite show home, with the most functional plan they’ve seen.”

The magic of the Oak Bay is how — despite its considerable size, which sometimes can be a challenge to design — the functional flow of the entire home remains seamless. And the show home — which adds a fully developed 797-square-foot developed basement — expertly shows all the potential this particular plan has.

No detail has been overlooked — even the mudroom off the garage entrance is designed to make it an integral part of the home; with features like built-in lockers for coats and outerwear gear that makes the home all that more adorable but still utterly functional.

“The mudroom runs straight to the wide walk-thru pantry to give owners that extra bit of convenience,” Anderson adds.

But functionality is far from the Oak Bay’s only asset, as it has plenty of other eye-popping features that make it such a terrific showpiece. The great room with its elegant, built-in stone tile fireplace/entertainment unit combination sets the stage for pure aesthetic pleasure of the entire main floor. Granite countertops and polished hardwood flooring complement the distinct Country Cottage feel of the home.

The kitchen has tons of counter space to work your culinary magic. The centre island with the classy, automatic microwave set in it, and the L-shaped kitchen counter with raised breakfast bar at the end facing the extended dining nook with vaulted ceiling gives the Oak Bay a rare design panache that ties the massive main floor area into a cohesive whole.

“It has all the right space in the right places, there is even a home office with French doors off the front entry,” Anderson says.

“We decided to go for all the options we can think of for this Oak Bay show home just to show visitors its full potential, but this floor plan is really very flexible and is designed for a family to enjoy for several years,” Anderson says. “You can watch your children grow in this one home and it will still fulfill all your needs.”

The four bedrooms upstairs have more than adequate space for growing kids and the bonus room with its vaulted ceilings provide a cozy environment for the family to bond on movie nights. “It’s set apart from the master bedroom at the opposite side of the house, so that when kids want to have friends over and play video games they don’t have to bother mom and dad.”

Just in case all this space isn’t enough for your family, there is still the option to develop the basement, which Stepper did with this Mahogany show home with amazing results. The award-winning builder was able to expertly design this extra room to fit a wet bar, a fifth bedroom and a home theatre and game room, just to show what they can do with less than 800 square-feet of space. “Even the mechanical room is very spacious with lots of room to store Christmas Trees and other seasonal stuff,” Anderson says.

The Oak Bay has been so well-received that Stepper is also offering the Alder Bay, which is a smaller version. “The Oak Bay needs at least a 36-wide lot to build on, and there aren’t that many left in Mahogany, so we want to offer the 2,363-square-foot Alder Bay which has an identical design but will fit in smaller lots,” Anderson says.

Oak Bay starts at $494,000, house, lot and GST included, and the show home with all its upgrades is at $727,000. The Alder Bay starts at $465,000. NL


FAST FACTS:
Builder: Stepper Custom Homes

Area: Mahogany

Developer:  Hopewell Residential Communities

Style: Two-storey move-up single-family home

Size: 2,551 sq. ft.

Price: Starts at $494,000

Address: 36 Mahogany Heath S.E.

Directions: South on Deerfoot Trail and east on Hwy 22X and follow the signs

Hours: Monday-Thursday 2-8 p.m., weekends and holidays noon to 5 p.m.

Web:  www.stepperhomes.com