The four-storey multiple residence blends into region
Sun
In the Duke view homes, distant and immediate prospects will compete for their occupants’ attention
The Duke is not a first for Dunbar, but it is the first in a long time, a multiple-residence building in a Vancouver neighbourhood of predominantly single-family, detached residences.
The Duke building is a stellar example of densification. At four storeys, it does not impose; the design, by Robert Duke of Howard Bingham Hill Architects, looks right at home on the northeast corner of 18th and Dunbar.
Yes, Cressey named the project for the building’s architect, who also happens to live in Dunbar.
As Cressey vice-president Hani Lammam notes, it made sense to name the building after Duke, who brought a high level of expertise to the project as well as a passion for the neighbourhood.
Cressey, more typically a builder of bigger new-home projects than smaller projects, was eager to take on this “boutique” project because of its location, Lammam reports.
“Being on the crest of the hill we knew we would have tremendous views and nothing is typical about the Duke. Everything is unique.”
Accordingly, upper-floor residences have been designed to take advantage of the views. The balconies or decks are generously sized, and six have indoor-outdoor fireplaces. The building’s roof, accessible by elevator, will have small gardens.
Lammam expects most of the buyers will come from the Dunbar community, noting one of the first purchasers was a couple who live just a few doors away and bought for one set of their retired parents.
Some buyers are also associated with the nearby University of B.C.
The likely buyers of the Duke on Dunbar are mature, sophisticated, love comfort and surrounding themselves with the finer things in life.
You know this to be true as soon as you walk into the project’s display suite — it’s been decorated in a strategic manner to appeal to this market demographic.
The Duke has been home-staged by Dekora, a company that started out in 2003 and has since staged more than 1,000 Lower Mainland properties to look the best they can.
As Dekora co-founder John Carter notes, it pays off for developers or homeowners reselling their homes to “make sure the property is a perfect 10.”
“It [home-staging] is absolutely critical to selling any property — whether individual homes or developers and investors with properties that would otherwise be standing empty.
“Homes, once listed for sale, are products, and if you are selling a product it has to be merchandised.”
Carter adds that it also makes common sense that a property that looks its best will sell quickly and for more money.
He cites a San Francisco study that looked at 2,700 home sales and compared homes that were staged with those that were not. The staged homes sold eight per cent above listing price and in half the time of the non-staged homes.
“We are trying to make properties look great without trying too hard — make them look inviting so people can envision themselves living there. That is the goal.
“You are really selling a dream, a lifestyle.”
And in the case of the Duke, that dream is living the life of luxury, with high-end furnishings to match the high-end finishes.
The Duke was home-staged by designer Brent Melnychuk who opted to go with a neutral colour palette and clean contemporary furniture.
Designer and Dekora co-founder Ron Sowden described the Duke’s style as “classic but still quite contemporary.”
“It’s for a mature market. Someone who seeks warmth and comfort so we tried to take a clean lined contemporary space and treat it with warmth, colour, texture and soften it so it has a feel of luxury,” says Sowden.
He adds it is easier to work on projects like the Duke, rather than resales, because the designers get to begin with a clean slate.
“The stager can approach it whatever way they feel best,” he says, noting that in the Duke’s case, the open concept and generous deck space gave them lots to work with to create a nice ambience.
Carter says it takes between three to five days to completely stage a house, and that a sense of flow should run through all the rooms.
“You want it to stand out, but you don’t want to make design decisions that yell. You need to really still work within certain boundaries in terms of the design – to have a fantastic feel that is pulled together.”
With a starting price of $419,900, the Duke residences are comparatively affordable. In Dunbar, $1 million might get you a tear-down.
“The market [in Dunbar] has a growing acceptance [for condo living]. It’s now the choice for many people because it offers a carefree lifestyle,” Lammam comments.
”You get to live in a new modern building with all the amenities. Typically in a condo, you go down the street and all the stores are right there. Plus you don’t have to mow the lawn or worry about painting the exterior.”
High-end finishes are throughout the building from the high ceiling entranceway, with its walnut art niche and contemporary lighting fixtures, to the security camera that allows owners to prescreen visitors via the television.
In the showroom, a townhouse with a garden patio, the standout is the gourmet kitchen — it has an island with a furniture-style base and a built-in wine refrigerator. Its dark wood matches the bank of shaker wood kitchen cabinets with satin nickel hardware. The countertops are one-and-a-half inch polished granite with undermount double bowl stainless steel sinks and a stainless steel single lever faucet with vegetable spray.
The appliances are Kitchen Aid stainless steel and include a built-in bottom mount refrigerator, four-burner gas cooktop, European-style electric convection wall oven, build-in microwave and integrated console dishwasher.
The bathrooms have a deep soaker tube with a 12 x 24 inch ceramic tile tub surround and brushed nickel single lever shower faucet. The one-and-a-half-inch countertops are either limestone or quartz slab square-edged with an undermount porcelain sink.
All of the homes are fully air-conditioned and have wide plank hardwood flooring in the foyer, living room, dining room, kitchen and den. All of the homes have a natural gas fireplace complemented by a limestone surround.
NEW RISES ABOVE THE OLD
A higher-ground proclamation of densification, The Duke building is surrounded by blocks and blocks of single-family-detached homes, in the Kitsilano neighbourhood (shown above, as seen from the building) and the Dunbar and West Point Grey neighbourhoods.
PRIVACY COMES WITH A VIEW
Private balconies and decks and a common roof terrace (right) all demonstrate an architectural response to the “tremendous views” of the Duke site.
QUALITY KITCHENS
A lovely affirmation of locale, wide-plank flooring, the furniture quality of the kitchen cabinetry, the Shaker-style doors, or doors framed with stiles and rails, and their simple pulls in a nickle finish all broadcast a Duke residence as a home in an old neighbourhood.
NEW BLENDS WITH OLD
Counters topped with polished granite, oversized appliances, by KitchenAid, clad in stainless steel, a wine fridge and a natural-gas fireplace framed by a limestone surround all speak of a new home in an old neighbourhood.
Old or new, all the finishes the Cressey development company has put into The Duke make possible the promised ” carefree lifestyle.”
A PROJECT TO PLEASE THE EYE
“The tremendous views” at the Duke new-home project anticipated by Hani Lammam of the Cressey development company will be enjoyed by, among others, the occupants of these neighbouring, or adjoining, two-bedroom, two-bath residences on the third floor. Their prospects are to the east and north.
NORTH, SOUTH VIEWS DIFFER
The homes may look, bird’s eye view, as if their interior square footages are different.
They are, but barely, at 20 square feet.
The “northern” home (brown) offers 1,034 square feet; the “southern,” 1,014.
The 18 Duke apartments range in size from 663 square feet to 1,178 square feet; the five townhouses, from 1,325 square feet to 1,524 square feet.
THE DUKE
Location: 18th and Dunbar,
Vancouver
Project size: 18 apartments, 5 townhouses
Residence size: Apartments, from 663 sq. ft.; townhouses, from 1,325 sq. ft.
Prices: $419,900 – $1.18 million
Telephone: 604-734-3853
Web: dukeondunbar.com
Developer: Cressey
Architect: Robert Duke, Howard Bingham Hill Architects
Interior design: Insight Design Group Inc.
Occupancy: July
