Modern Lux Design Comes to Semiahmoo

Muirfield

WRITTEN BY SANDRA HURTLEY AND DENISE LONES PHOTOGRAPHED BY SHEILA SAY PHOTOGRAPHY

MUIRFIELD IS AN exclusive gated community of only 10 exquisite custom one- and two-story luxury homes situated in beautiful Semiahmoo. The homes sit in a natural setting, with over 40% of the development being open natural space with expansive privacy buffers.

The developer Denise Lones is a new construction expert and both a judge and mentor with the National Association of Home Builders. She has spent the past two decades touring and judging thousands of new homes and is passionate about floor plan flow, interior design, and the functional elements of a home.

Every home was personally designed by Lones with her five critical elements for a winning plan:

1) Take floor plan flow and testing into consideration. Start with a floor plan that maximizes the space and provides visual flow to the home, and don’t be afraid of using ceiling height to add dimension and interest to the home. Never build a home from just a two-dimensional floor plan. Lones believes in collaboration, and she works with local design firm JWR Design in Lynden because of their ability to make the types of changes she always requires on every plan.

2) First impressions are key.

Windows are an essential part of the winning recipe for any home, as they can bring the outdoors in, provide drama, and extend visual space. Never scrimp on window design or size! Every home designed by Lones has her signature window package included. Her bold, beautiful windows are custommade by Westeck Windows and Doors, a Canadian company with a local office in Bellingham.

3) Kitchens should be functional.

After all, the kitchen is the heart of the home! Lones’ father was a chef, and she is very opinionated about how a kitchen functions from both a cooking and entertaining perspective. Her cabinets are custom made and she thoroughly enjoys collaborating with Will from HighCraft Cabinets in Ferndale.

4) Design detail elements matter.

A floor-to-ceiling fireplace with a commanding presence can add one of those details, or a floating staircase that is lit from underneath to cascade light onto a wall of stone can take your breath away. A master bath with floor to ceiling tile and a luxury soaking bath with a backlit shelf can add the right element to wow a buyer. Attention to every architectural detail is key to making a home spectacular, and that is what today’s buyer wants.

5) Buyer demographic analysis is critical. You must pay attention to the buyer demographic and give them what they want. The luxury home buyer wants quality construction, high-end appliances, dramatic great room spaces, top-of-the-line finishing, spa-like bathrooms, smart home features, and the ability to customize some important elements of the home.

Every home at Muirfield incorporated these elements and you can see them on display in the homes. Each home was custom designed with soaring high ceilings, panoramic windows, and beautifully flowing open-concept floor plans. Each home is complete with customized high-end finishes, and no two home’s interiors are finished alike.

Buyers are given six custom curated design styles to help them discover their natural design personality. From there, each buyer is guided through a personal design experience to customize their home to suit their design and living needs. Homeowners end up with a home that was personalized for them, and each buyer receives their dream palette of textures and finishes.

It takes a team of experts to create this type of exceptional product, and Lones believes in collaboration with experts. It all starts with the development design; Lones believes that Engineer Craig Parkinson from Cascade Engineering Group was instrumental in this regard. Tim Wiersma and Bud Ammons from Everkept Construction head up Muirfield’s building team. Lones also had JWR Design bring her concepts to life, and then she worked closely with Markie Nelson for interior design and Sandra Hurtley for model home styling.

“We put so much thought into each piece and the overall result is a very sophisticated yet casual living space that perfectly reflects the Semiahmoo lifestyle.”

Sandra Hurtley

“It was important to Denise to custom design the furniture to match the space and the style of the home,” says Hurtley. “The opportunity to collaborate with Markie and Denise was really a dream come true. We put so much thought into each piece and the overall result is a very sophisticated yet casual living space that perfectly reflects the Semiahmoo lifestyle.”

Homes range in size from 1,947 to 3,400 square feet. For more information or to see the model, visit muirfieldsemiahmoo.com.

Developer: Kosmos Developments LLC

Builder: Everkept Construction

Lead conceptual development creator: Denise Lones

Engineering: Cascade Engineering Group

Home design: JWR Design

Interior design: Markie Nelson

Interior stylist: Sandra Hurtley 