SE Oakville

[Memph]

Took some pictures of homes in SE Oakville last week. The housing stock is getting increasingly varied with the new construction.

The homes built as part of the original built out of the neighbourhood include both 2 storey homes

And of course the bungalows

To some people, SE Oakville might be known for its over the top faux-historic stucco mansions, and indeed it does have those.

There's more "normal" traditional styled homes.

And an increasing number of modern homes (and yes Oakville has hydro poles too, not just Toronto).

And an increasing number of homes like these with wood siding (usually grey, blue, green or brown) and large porches

More pictures of homes in the area, both new and old.

One of Ferris Rafauli's homes, 222 Poplar. Some can be rather extravagant... although I like how the garages were integrated into the design of this one.

Possibly the most extravagant of Rafauli's homes (at least that I can think of), 294 Chartwell. It was built a few years ago and was originally listed for $16 million, then the price was cut to $14 million, and again to $11 million, and was apparently sold for $7.5 million (according to blog comments). Not sure what the owners are tinkering now, it's already 17500 sf (9500 sf excluding walk-out basement). If you google 294 Chartwell you'll see it looks like it was designed for Marie Antoinette...

More to come (I'll probably be taking future pictures earlier in the day)...

 

[saynotofaux]

Possibly the most extravagant of Rafauli's homes (at least that I can think of), 294 Chartwell. It was built a few years ago and was originally listed for $16 million, then the price was cut to $14 million, and again to $11 million, and was apparently sold for $7.5 million (according to blog comments). Not sure what the owners are tinkering now, it's already 17500 sf (9500 sf excluding walk-out basement). If you google 294 Chartwell you'll see it looks like it was designed for Marie Antoinette...

I jog down Chartwell every day and was interested to learn about the alterations currently being made. I searched through the Oakville Committee of Adjustment minutes and it appears the home was bought back by the owner of Grandeur Homes (Rafauli) who applied for minor variances to increase the height of the roof. Although, as far as I could tell a second floor isn't being added, so in my estimation it's just to make the house look even "statelier". In my opinion, the home was far too customized to attract a buyer willing to pay the original $16M asking price - or even the reduced $11M price - and so rather than go through the embarrassment of this being a huge white elephant the builder bought it back at a bargain (allegedly $7.5M) to renovate, make cosmetic alterations, and flip back on the market. BUT, that's just my opinion, of course.

There's another home by Grandeur that's for sale down the road at 199 Chartwell for $9.3M - it's a new build, and it's very - uh - ostentatious... see the listing photos, which I won't link here. The house has been on the open market without a price drop for several months now, and I would eat my shirt if the builder got more than $6M. The market for ultra high-end estates in Southeast Oakville is very saturated at the moment.

Generally speaking though, and notwithstanding my criticism of these kinds of gaudy, absurdly oversized homes (I much prefer the Oakville heritage architectural vernacular), Grandeur Homes is miles ahead of other local builders in terms of quality of design, materials and construction. Would I ever want to live in one of their homes? Absolutely not. But it's far better than 99% of all the other Southeast Oakville mcmansion schlock.

 

[vistech]

Cool images is it real pics ohhh i want to visit this places beautiful very nice collection you have share at your thread

 

[Uncle Teddy]

Some amazing houses around here. Obviously a lot of money in the area.

 

[Memph]

I jog down Chartwell every day and was interested to learn about the alterations currently being made. I searched through the Oakville Committee of Adjustment minutes and it appears the home was bought back by the owner of Grandeur Homes (Rafauli) who applied for minor variances to increase the height of the roof. Although, as far as I could tell a second floor isn't being added, so in my estimation it's just to make the house look even "statelier". In my opinion, the home was far too customized to attract a buyer willing to pay the original $16M asking price - or even the reduced $11M price - and so rather than go through the embarrassment of this being a huge white elephant the builder bought it back at a bargain (allegedly $7.5M) to renovate, make cosmetic alterations, and flip back on the market. BUT, that's just my opinion, of course.

There's another home by Grandeur that's for sale down the road at 199 Chartwell for $9.3M - it's a new build, and it's very - uh - ostentatious... see the listing photos, which I won't link here. The house has been on the open market without a price drop for several months now, and I would eat my shirt if the builder got more than $6M. The market for ultra high-end estates in Southeast Oakville is very saturated at the moment.

Generally speaking though, and notwithstanding my criticism of these kinds of gaudy, absurdly oversized homes (I much prefer the Oakville heritage architectural vernacular), Grandeur Homes is miles ahead of other local builders in terms of quality of design, materials and construction. Would I ever want to live in one of their homes? Absolutely not. But it's far better than 99% of all the other Southeast Oakville mcmansion schlock.

Yeah, looks like you're right about 294 Chartwell.

Grandeur Homes do look pretty fancy for sure, but yeah, with these homes you want to build your own dream home for yourself, not to try to flip it a couple years later. There's more demand for building your dream than buying someone else's.

There are some other homes that look pretty high quality like this one I posted which I don't think is by Grandeur.

But it can be hit and miss. 278 Wedgewood has been on and off the market for ages. I don't want to dislike it because it looks like they tried to make it cute but the windows and such are mismatched and it looks rather disjointed from the outside. I think the quality is increasing though, a lot of the homes from the start of the boom (~12 years ago) were like generic suburban homes but bigger but some of the new ones look pretty nice imo like the ones I took pictures of from Dianne Ave.

 

[IvanCiraj]

Yeah, looks like you're right about 294 Chartwell.

Grandeur Homes do look pretty fancy for sure, but yeah, with these homes you want to build your own dream home for yourself, not to try to flip it a couple years later. There's more demand for building your dream than buying someone else's.

There are some other homes that look pretty high quality like this one I posted which I don't think is by Grandeur.

But it can be hit and miss. 278 Wedgewood has been on and off the market for ages. I don't want to dislike it because it looks like they tried to make it cute but the windows and such are mismatched and it looks rather disjointed from the outside. I think the quality is increasing though, a lot of the homes from the start of the boom (~12 years ago) were like generic suburban homes but bigger but some of the new ones look pretty nice imo like the ones I took pictures of from Dianne Ave.

Actually the home you referenced here (located on Balsam) was built by Rosehaven Homes as part of their Platinum custom home brand. Great thread that summarizes the varying styles of homes in this exclusive area. With the Grandeur Homes you're paying for the details, this is really hard to notice until you see the interiors. The exotic finishes and unique styles are what set these homes apart. Probably the one of the only other builders that match this scale in the Oakville area would be Coulson Fine Homes and PCM.

 

[Uncle Teddy]

Some really nice ones and some really over the top ones.

 

[King of Kensington]

Our equivalent to say, Greenwich Connecticut or Lake Forest outside Chicago.

 

[fauxreal]

Love this thread. Could anybody lead me in the direction of more photography like this?