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A
From the Publishers
A
s we write, we find ourselves en route to the Fashion Meets Architecture
on the Bench (FAB) event in Penticton. It seems there is rarely a spare
moment in our days as publishers of Okanagan HOME!
FAB is a chance for Vintage & Vogue clothing store in Penticton to
showcase their collection of classic trends on the runway. What makes
this event unique is that the fashion show is being held in a beautiful Barnett Construction custom home on Naramata Bench, with a breathtaking
view of Okanagan Lake. This spectacular venue gleams with a detailed
and purposeful aesthetic, pulled together by Interior Designer, Maria Nordlund. We look forward
to seeing this beautiful South Okanagan home in person, but have prepared a glimpse for you as
one of our principal features in this Summer Issue.
Another show stopping feature that we have lined up in this copy of Okanagan HOME, is
our cover story – a 7,400 square foot Timberhaven
Homes masterpiece. This beautifully appointed
estate is slated to be auctioned off to the highest
bidder next year. The auction, put on by The Garage Sale, brings non-traditional real estate sales to
the Okanagan market. Using the age-old auction
method in this application is helpful in bringing an
increased sense of urgency, in a real estate market
that rarely produces this sentiment. As it turns out,
this process is becoming more popular for luxury
home sales in markets such as the United States, the
Caribbean and abroad. When it comes to real estate
investment, one look through this home may leave
you feeling a little progressive yourself!
Deviations from the ordinary may be a theme this
issue, as we explore the stabilized rammed earth
construction method in a Solum Rammed Earth
creation. This home is one of a kind, inside and out.
The sedimentary rock-like layers in the structure of
the residence have an appeal that can be attributed
to the hand-made, natural components. Not to
mention that these homes are efficient to cool and
heat, making them a very ‘down to earth’ option, so
to speak.
If you are looking for ideas to liven up the home
you already have, look no further than our Planning
department this issue where we explore the growing trend of sophisticated closets. These closets do
more than just house garments – your closet can help
with organization and the flow of time in your daily
routine. More than that, a well-planned closet can
provide a much-needed escape for a few moments
of peaceful serenity.
Photo by David Szabo
Whatever your motivation for reading Okanagan
HOME, we are sure that you will enjoy what we have put together this summer, and look forward
to seeing you out and about over the sunny summer months in the Okanagan Valley.
Justin & Christy
We want to hear from our readers! Please write us with your editorial ideas and feedback to
[email protected] so that we can continue to provide you with quality content.
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18 Okanagan HOME Summer 2012
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Kellet Project
Photos Courtesy of Bonitas
H
34 Okanagan HOME Summer 2012
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Photos Courtesy of Wilson Custom Builders
BY DAVID WYLIE
T
he front door to Nick Kellet’s home is two of a
kind.
Hand crafted from solid walnut, the massive
off-axis door gracefully swings open from about
18 inches in, differentiating it from normal hinged doors. Its
hardware is all custom machined, creating an exquisite finish.
It would be one of a kind, but the entrance has a match in
the front door to the second home built on the property.
“It’s like walking into a castle,” says Kellet, an Okanagan entrepreneur who co-founded the list-sharing website, List.ly. “I
think a house should surprise you every time you enter it.”
The doors are a perfect welcome to two uniquely styled residences built in tandem on a slice of lakefront Braeloch Road
property in Kelowna’s Mission.
“I didn’t want to create another conformist craftsman home
in the Okanagan,” said Kellet. “Everything about it is a piece
of art -- from the garden to the lighting.”
The adventure of building two stand-out homes began after
council granted a zoning change in mid- 2009 to Nick and Julie
Kellet, from rural residential to two dwelling housing. The pair’s
Above: The fabulous views through old 8,000-square-foot
the open doors off the kitchen.
house, built in the midBelow: One of the statement front
1970s, was too large
doors, inviting you in.
and inefficient, so they
Okanagan HOME Summer 2012 35
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Deck. “Poss are among my favourite architects
to work with - they understand livability and luxury. We collaborated on open living. When the
doors to the outside are open, the capacity of the
home doubles.”
Deck’s design vision for the space embraces a
subtle set of metaphors for the surrounding open
landscapes and grasslands of the course. She
pulled on the dry grasslands and blue sky as reference points, and the design will feature shots of
brilliant colour intermixed with matte textures.
This is the second design project for Deck at
Predator Ridge. Last year she worked on a Preston floor plan show home that sold quickly, but
its influence was felt through the resort as home
owners repeated design ideas in their own custom
builds. “We want to generate ideas and conversation and start a new dialogue about design at
Predator Ridge,” says Deck.
Many home owners and year round residents at
Predator begin with a smaller step into commitment, says Claire Radford a property specialist at
the community. Fractional ownership is the first
taste of the lifestyle for many people. The Tips is
the new fractional opportunity at Predator Ridge.
Shared by 12 owners, the townhomes come complete with membership privileges during ownership weeks, private pool and fitness centre, hot
tub and steam room.
The scope of the community at Predator Ridge
wraps around the hilly lines of the mountainside.
When driving through the rolling topography, up
towards the gates, it is easy to see the clubhouse
and hotel rising up out of the landscape, while the
residential areas gently slide into the terrain.
Falcon Point Estates is where the custom luxury buyer can find their dream build site surrounded by spectacular views in every direction. The
lots are approximately one acre in size and have
already attracted the personal attention of Valley
builders as the site of their own homes.
The range of opportunity at Predator extends
to the midpoint of the market. Townhomes at Osprey Green and customizable plans at Birdie Lake
Place round out the options for home buyers.
Predator Ridge is a 30 minute drive from the
Kelowna International Airport. In 2013 that drive
will be considerably shorter due to extensive upgrades to Hwy 97. The sales numbers for new
homes at the course have remained remarkably
steady in the past 12 months. The question of
market ready inventory is only in doubt because
of the rapid rate that homes are being snapped
up.
It just goes to show, all the fundamentals of a
great game are in place at Predator Ridge. H
Okanagan HOME Summer 2012 51
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Above: The backyard pool
was built by Fun Water in
Penticton. The perfect golf
green is by Synlawn, Kelowna. Left: The home has an
exceptional home automation
system with lighting control
by Lutron; audio visual by
Crestron, installed by I Q Home
Automation in Penticton. Below:
The pivot front door is a reclaimed
fir, by Plexus Design in Naramata. “The weight of this door is
perfect,” says Barnett. “A front
door should be substantial.”
Okanagan HOME Summer 2012 53
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Kitchen - The kitchen in this home is a chef and
chief-cook-and-bottle-washer’s delight.
Nordlund worked with Ellis Creek Kitchens to
design a family friendly, large and open kitchen
where kids could be a part of the cooking. There
are dual ovens and dishwashers and a full size
fridge and full size freezer.
Bathroom – The bathroom was designed to
evoke the very best luxury hotel bathrooms with
floor to ceiling marble walls and a truly indulgent shower system.
54 Okanagan HOME Summer 2012
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Online
Inspired Backyard
Makeover
L
ife outdoors in the Okanagan is so much better when
it is inspired. This Summerland backyard features
phenomenal hand carved woods from Indonesia.
Posts, beams, doors, and other architectural details
were imported by Kelowna’s Sun Country Furniture, as were the
outdoor furnishings. Paired with a spectacular pool, this backyard can be viewed in full at OkanaganHOME.com, where a new
website will be launched this summer. H
Okanagan HOME Summer 2012 57
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Artist Pr ofile
D
orothy Tinning is one of the Okanagan
Similkameen’s most well known artists. Her fascination with art started as a child when she would
stand and watch her father paint for hours. “I
watched his techniques, and learned to love art,” she says from
her Okanagan studio.
Her artistic style blends Aboriginal themes with surrounding landscapes. Tinning recognizes and appreciates the long
and distinguished history of the First Nation’s people in our
area. “I’ve always encouraged people to extend their understanding of their connection to their immediate environment,” says Tinning. “It is important they see Nature as the
connection point. A landscape may subconsciously remind us
of the history and the culture of the land.
For example, she has one painting called, Paddle Your Canoe on Vaseux Lake, which Tinning says, “Was an inspiration
created from sitting in a canoe on a beautiful day on Vaseux
Lake, absorbing the sense of spirit and place. If you know
the history of the area, you are reminded of it, whenever you
see this painting.” Some of her other original works such as,
Rattlesnake Island, Spotted Lake, Paddling Home, and Oh
Okanagan, create lasting memories of how these incredible
landforms were such an important part of the aboriginal history of the area.
Tinning spends hours and hours researching her subjects
and all that goes into her paintings before she even picks up a
brush. “The creation of the painting, the arrangement of the
landforms, and choices of colour, are all carefully chosen to
represent how I see the world,” Tinning says. “The Okanagan Similkameen history is alive, and important, and relevant.
Hopefully my acrylic on
canvas paintings have a
Evoking the Okanagan with iconic
strong visual impact. On
topography and colour, Dorothy
a deeper level, I also wish
Tinning’s Paddle Your Canoe at
to see people affected
Vaseux Lake
emotionally and intellectually by what I paint.”
Tinning has that special touch that allows her to pour emotion into all of her paintings. “My painting, Proud to Be Shuswap-Ernie Philip, is really a metaphor for strength and pride,
and of Ernie’s proud heritage to have been born into the Shuswap Nation,” she explains. Tinning first saw Ernie dancing in
2009 at Okanagan College, Kelowna campus, at the Aboriginal Youth Exhibition and Pow Wow event, when he was in his
eighties. “The energy, strength and stamina he exhibited in his
dances presented a man half his age.” The painting was created
following numerous interviews, and through the development
of a deep personal friendship with Ernie.
Tinning, who has a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia, also took art education courses
through the University of Victoria with Dr. Sharon McCoubrey. She has an active status with the Federation of Canadian
Artists.
Her work is featured in private and corporate collections
throughout North America. You can currently see her art at
the Spirit Ridge Resort & Spa in Osoyoos, and at Dorothy’s
Fine Art, her studio in Penticton. Dorothy is proud to be participating in the 2012 World Indigenous Housing Conference
in Vancouver, with an art exhibition and sale in June 2012. For
more information go to dorothytinning.com. H
58 Okanagan HOME Summer 2012
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Builder Profile
BY DARCY NYBO
W
hen you look for someone to build your dream
home, you want someone who understands
your lifestyle, who can design and build what
you see in your head, and most importantly,
someone who cares.
Meet Les Bellamy of Bellamy Homes. He grew up in the
Okanagan in the excavation business. With several family
members in the construction industry, Bellamy decided to try
it out at age 21. He didn’t start small either; the first building
he worked on was a four-story, 90-unit apartment building. “It
was an overwhelming and intimidating first day on the job,”
recalls Bellamy. “My prior experience was working with four
or five people on site; this one had over 100!”
Once his shock wore off, Bellamy
was hooked. For over 20 years his pasA Bellamy Homes built sion has been building custom homes
home, with a perfect night as unique as the people he builds
time view of the city of them for. “Each home I’ve built holds
Kelowna and Okanagan a different feel and memory. What I
Lake beyond. like best is the big smile on people’s
faces when I see them years later. I
like a challenge and I like that every house I do is different.”
Bellamy is personally involved in the home from start to
finish and that includes the design. He is an award winning
designer and loves meeting with people and taking their vision of a dream home and making it a reality. “When I talk to
my clients I find out what kind of home they need, how many
bedrooms, bathrooms etc. I have a 10 page questionnaire I
give to my clients so I know exactly what they want. It even
gets into lifestyle, entertaining, pets, use of outdoor space etc.,
I need to know who I am building for.”
Bellamy takes into consideration the views, how much natural light they want indoors, and do they want shade or sun
outdoors.
“We offer three type of building contracts to suit all our
clients out there,” explains Bellamy. “We can do a full fixed
price build with allowances for customization. We can do a
construction management build where we pay the bills but
you are more involved in the trades and products you want in
your home. It is a transparent process from start to finish and
any cost over runs are paid directly by the customer. We also
do construction management where we get paid a monthly fee
to manage it, with the customer finding all the trades, materials etc.” What sets Bellamy Homes apart from the others is
their involvement. “With us you get direct, hands on customer
service from the owner of the company. We do not hire site
supervisors to run our projects; we do it ourselves. We also
include interior design expertise by an award winning interior
design firm.”
Bellamy Homes builds a maximum of seven homes per year
to ensure Les Bellamy is always the onsite supervisor. “I want
to be the guy the homeowner meets and works with throughout the whole process,” he says. “I don’t need to be a big company.” H
BELLAMY HOMES
Photo Courtesy of Bellamy Homes
60 Okanagan HOME Summer 2012
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