UNDERSTATED AND TEMPTING CARSDALE (THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, 2007)

(By Sheila Brady) – If you have the money, head to Rockcliffe for the good life on Carsdale Court.

ne couple is relocating from Manotick and the other tried the condo life, but wanted at least one foot planted firmly on the ground. Neither is an acrobat. Both couples wanted new architecture in an established community, and in Ottawa, it’s pretty hard to get more established than Rockcliffe Park. Earlier this spring, they discovered Carsdale Court, a leafy enclave of six elegant single homes designed by the award-winning team of Uniform Urban Developments, architect Barry Hobin and designer Danielle Hannah of 2H Interior Design. The two buyers, Cathy and Bryan McLean and Nicole Emond, will soon be neighbours living on Carsdale Court, which is set back from Beechwood Avenue within the boundaries of Rockcliffe Village. John McDougall, an owner of Uniform, bought the site, which was once home to storage barns and maintenance equipment for Rockcliffe Village. Initially, McDougall envisioned townhomes, but a series of meetings with area residents agreed on six homes that would deliver an understated, modern take on Prairie architecture. So far there is one elegant home, but it was enough to win over Emond and her husband, an electrical contractor who works for several builders in the city. The couple had been looking for a new address after experimenting with condo life for two years in a plush address high in the sky overlooking the Rideau River. Both in their 50s, the couple had already downsized from their 5,000-square-foot home in Orléans, but they discovered they weren’t quite ready for living high above the ground. “My husband wanted one foot on the ground,” says Emond, who also confesses she wanted more diversity in shops and neighbours. After two years of trying, they went looking for new construction in an established community, by chance driving by the Carsdale Court home a day after it opened in May. “It was a wow from the front door to the architecture and to the windows,” says Emond. “We had been through a dozen homes and there was always a little something. This one was a wow. “We didn’t want to lose it, so we moved quickly.”

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