Brownstones townhomes in Vancouver offer nod to the family?s heart ? the kitchen
Mary Frances Hill
The Province
Brownstones at Kingcrest Park
Where: 4348 Knight Street
What: 16 townhomes; Fourteen row-style townhomes, eight in one building, six in another, with two duplex-style homes next door.
Residence sizes and prices: two and three bedrooms, 1,150 — 1,252 square feet, from $969,900 — $1,169,900
Developer and builder: Epix Developments Inc.
Sales centre address: 4348 Knight Street
Sales centre hours: 2 p.m. — 4 p.m. Sat and Sun or by appointment
A bustling neighbourhood surrounds Brownstones at Kingcrest Park, a community of townhomes that will stand near the hub of Kingsway and Knight in Vancouver, a short walk to green space, cafes and retail. It’s a vibrant area, but Epix Developments Inc. and interior designer Cynthia Florano also created an interior home plan and design that appeals to homeowners’ need for comfort, space and privacy.
Epix and Florano see the kitchen as the heart of family and social life, as its strategic placement in the homes makes clear. “The kitchens at Brownstones are definitely the focal point of the home as it’s centrally located on the main floor,” says Florano, the principal of Cynthia Florano Design.
In the home plans that greet potential buyers, the living room and the kitchen are on either side of the kitchen. This gives the kitchen a sense of private formality that more common layouts — some featuring a dining room bookended by the kitchen and living room — might not. At the same time, anyone working in the kitchen can socialize easily and naturally with family or guests in either the living room or dining area.
“This creates diversity for the space, especially with the generous island, which is a luxury in townhomes,” Florano says. “The kitchen for growing families is not only the gathering place for meals, but for conversing and sharing special moments. It’s also a setting where you can feel comfortable to have friends over for entertaining evenings.”
Throughout the plan, privacy is balanced nicely with space planning to give active homeowners some freedom of movement, she adds. The townhomes aren’t “stacked,” so neighbours do not live below or above each other, and every homeowner will have an attached garage.
“There’s plenty of room for a full-sized vehicle, storage organizers, shelves and sports equipment,” Florano says.
“I would recommend [that homeowners] have the garage cabinets installed, as we did in the display, to keep life organized. For the growing family or the active couple, the extra storage space is a saviour.”
Epix kept a previously standing character home on the site, so used some creativity, adding heritage detailing like reclaimed hardwood flooring a heritage-era gas fireplaces, corniced ceilings, exposed beams and a cast-iron pot belly heater in one of the two duplexes that will stand in the community.
Florano and Epix used light neutrals in the interior finishes to accentuate the details in the general design, she adds. “The overall design palette throughout the display is tone-on-tone neutrals with textured fabrics. We wanted to create a fresh, elegant, but inviting home to view. By keeping the tones neutral, the design of the home is clearly more pronounced.”
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