We’ve got your
1365 OTTAWA ST.
homes
306-790-7771
REG00219431_1_1
b r e a k i n g n e w s a t L EA D ER P O ST . C O M S ec t i o n F
S at u r day, Au g ust 15, 2015
Beacon Manor Showsuites
OPENING TODAY
homesbydream.ca 306.347.8100
A second chance at a first impression
REG00219814_1_1
Redesigned entrance ups curb appeal Joanne Penhale the Montreal Gazette A landscaping overhaul in front of this Laval, Que., home reoriented the driveway, added a stately walkway and completely changed the look of the home. “We like the straight, clean lines,” said homeowner Marie Di Maso. “It’s very welcoming.” Before it was redesigned, the front of the house looked like a sea of Unistone, Di Maso said. “We could park a lot of cars, but it wasn’t very welcoming.” Now, a limestone walkway cuts straight from the street to the front door, eliminating the need to walk across a sprawling driveway. Green perennial plantings in symmetry on either side of the walkway include short boxwood hedging that
Myke Hodgins
BEFORE: The front of this Laval, Que. home belonging to Marie Di Maso and Robert Di Giorgio once looked like a sea of Unistone, said Di Maso. starts where the walkway rises two steps. Viewing the house from the street, these plantings hide the view of the secondary walkway that links the driveway to the visible wide stairs up to the front door. And that smaller-
Visit Hillside Park in
than-before driveway, surfaced with concrete pavers, now keeps to one side of the house and leads straight to the setback two-car garage rather than spilling out in front of the house as it once had.
“We’re always trying to tone down the driveway,” said Myke Hodgins, the landscape architect behind the design. Large driveways, especially ones with elaborate designs or with huge smooth
surfaces, can distract from the house itself. And it’s the house and the front door where attention needs to be drawn, said Hodgins. When he designs a home’s landscape, Hodgins tries to bring elements from its fa-
cade into the driveway and walkway design, which help create a cohesive look. The textured soft grey colours of the limestone and concrete pavers in this project echo the pale grey accents in the home’s darker grey facade. Too often, Hodgins said, he sees large swaths of smooth asphalt surfaces around a home — even backyards that are entirely paved. These large, smooth surfaces don’t just attract attention to the driveway rather than the home, they can also heat up a property. Not only that, but if rainwater just pours off the driveway into city sewers rather than seeping into the earth around a home, the home’s foundation can become compromised. “As landscape architects we try to keep all the water that falls on the site, on the site,” Hodgins said. The materials used on this home’s driveway and walkways aren’t permeable, Hodgins said. But when this is the case, he designs surfaces so that rainwater runs off into adjacent earth.
See Pathways, F2
ALL THE AMENITIES WITHOUT THE PRICES OF REGINA! Viewing by Appointment Only • Homes now under construction • Built and ready for immediate construction • Subdivision include asphalt roads, curb and sidewalk, centralized water and sewer • Within walking distance to the school, baseball diamonds, and toboggan hill
50’ LOTS $ 115,000 WALK OUTS S $ 127,000
(306)525-2329
Starting at
(306)789-0136
Starting at
(306)522-5556
(306)789-6080
JULY 2015
REG00220061_1_1
Joyce Tourney
Natasha Blaisdell
Bill Mueller
Michelle Laube
James Wruth
Shelly Kainz
Leanne Tourney
Craig Adam
Adelle Ecarnot
RE/MAX Joyce Tourney Realty
RE/MAX Joyce Tourney Realty
RE/MAX Joyce Tourney Realty
RE/MAX Joyce Tourney Realty
RE/MAX Crown Real Estate
RE/MAX Crown Real Estate
• 234 UNIVERSITY PARK DR
RE/MAX Crown Real Estate
RE/MAX Crown Real Estate
RE/MAX Crown Real Estate
• 2350 2ND AVE.
www.remaxregina.ca
REG00205133_1_1
REG00219953_1_1