Jayman Built’s Madeline model rings true for many interested in a home ready for entertaining and provides lots of living space.
Marc Archambault and Sean Morrow bought a Madeleine model home from Jayman Built in the new community of Trumpeter at Big Lake. PHOTO BY WALTER TYCHNOWICZ /Postmedia
Edmonton Journal
Laura Severs
It wasn’t just about downsizing, it was also about right-sizing.
Living in a 4,800-square-foot home in Parkland County, Marc Archambault and Sean Morrow began to realize they had too much home for themselves and their young daughter.
“We had quite a large home and we were thinking about getting a smaller house, one that would be more appropriate for a young family,” said Morrow.
That more appropriate home turned out to be a short distance away in Anthem’s Trumpeter by Big Lake in northwest Edmonton, on land bordering Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park.
Not only was it less than 10 minutes from where they used to live, there were a number of reasons they could trumpet for their move: a daycare within walking distance, living in Trumpeter would mean there would be other young families with young children, too, and it’s a low-impact community as the subdivision was designed to include low-impact development features to help to preserve the natural environment and lessen the human footprint.
“Extensive environmental initiatives include a system of small wetlands, bioswales and bioretention elements,” said Scott Reistad, development manager, Anthem. “Wildlife corridors were developed to help facilitate the movement of animals between natural habitats and residential trafficked areas, ensuring wildlife and residential safety.”
Once they decided on Trumpeter, they had also checked out west-end neighbourhoods including the Secord area. It was Jayman Built’s Madeline 24 that caught their attention.
“The Madeline is one of our most popular models, with the show home located in West Secord but available to build in nearly every one of our communities in Edmonton, including the amazing community of Trumpeter,” said Dalayce Keen, sales manager, Jayman Built. “The West Secord show home Madeline model was a finalist in the CHBA National Housing Awards of Excellence (earlier this year, in the Best Detached Production Home 2,101 to 2,400 square feet category).”
The Madeline features three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, a front-attached garage, and comes in at 2,284 square feet. There’s an expansive hidden pantry in the kitchen, for a sleek and clean cabinet look. The rear main floor flex room, possibly for a home office, is right next to an open-to-above space for abundant natural light. The home can be customized to include a main floor bedroom or a fourth bedroom can be put on the upper level. The Madeline starts in the $570,000 range, including lot and GST.
“It’s a unique division of space,” said Archambault. “The main floor really allows for entertainment but also to be able to have our eyes on our daughter when we’re cooking dinner … and there’s a nook on the main floor where you can have a home office as opposed to being in the basement so that was a big draw.”
The married couple added in-floor heating to the tiled areas in the home, had an in-floor electrical plug installed in the dining area for easier use of kitchen electrics or computing devices, and while they left the basement unfinished, it was built with a higher ceiling should they opt to finish it in the future.
“It is way better than our other house, which was a five-bedroom house for three of us,” said Archambault. “It’s more manageable and we get more time to spend with our daughter and (spend) less time to maintain the house.”
Their former house was bought as is.
“It was a great house, but we did a lot of renos to the other one to update it, as opposed to when you build and it’s everything you choose. It makes a big difference,” said Archambault.
“We did a bit of a quote-unquote ‘purge’ because we had bought a lot of furniture to fill the rooms,” said Morrow, adding now they’re not spending their days constantly cleaning like they did in their old home. “It’s very nice to be comfortable, to be relaxed and be able to live in your home and not just cleaning it.”
In addition to front-attached garage homes, Jayman is also building laned homes (starting in the low $400,000 range including lot and GST) and townhomes, starting from the $375,000 level (including lot and GST) in Trumpeter.
Surrounded by Nature
The first residential development in the Big Lake region, Trumpeter provides easy access to Big Lake, Horseshoe Lake and more than 34 acres of environmental reserve.
In the community proper, low-light LED streetlamps are used to minimize light pollution and keep the neighbourhood bird-friendly for the 235 bird species that also call Trumpeter home. You’ll find natural vegetation, wetlands and ponds throughout the community.
Anthem, Trumpeter’s developer, has invested in, developed or managed — alone or in partnership — more than 320 residential, commercial and retail projects across western North America. In addition to Jayman, Trumpeter’s other builders are Anthem and Pacesetter Homes.
