The owners of this custom home had an inspiration for this design – luxury Miami. With soaring ceilings, a crisp black and white palette and every component of the highest quality, this home is an unforgettable space.
For the exterior, Daniel Meledez of White Label Homes comments, “most of the year, Manitoba is covered in snow, so a white house wouldn’t make sense. Instead, we chose black with natural wood detailing. FiberWall™ for the windows was a good selection because it could accomplish the look.”
A huge part of the design involved scale. The windows climb up over 20 feet tall, with the front door alone sized at 5’x10.’ The ribbon window allows the light to flood in while also providing privacy, as they don’t look on to neighbouring houses.
“The front door feels normal from far away, but feels huge when you’re in front of it,” notes Melendez. “The pivot door has a certain gravitas to it instead of a side-hinged door.”
The pivot door incorporates a multi-point lock, which helps pull the door tight all the way up and down the frame against the weatherstripping. Even in standard doors, multi-point locks and magnets are becoming more common to contend with Manitoba’s extreme cold.
For the windows, the homeowners wanted the continuity of white and black, so they didn’t want wood windows and chose fiberglass for the ability to do black inside and out.
In all triple pane, the largest windows were carefully put into place by installing empty frames and then later having the glass installed on site.
The interior of the windows were finished with a simple drywall return back to the frames, to achieve a clean look.
On the back of the house, a full wall of glazing provides a view to the acreage. Here, a pivot door was incorporated into a wall of glazing, with the horizontal mullion thoughtfully placed at a lower height, to not obstruct the view.
Similarly, the bedrooms have European-style Tilt n’ Turn windows, which allowed for wide and short windows, to carry the sight lines at the same height. Normally, casement windows are required for egress, but they are required to be tall and narrow instead and wouldn’t quite fit the look.
Amongst the handmade Italian tile, the natural wood sheets from Spain and the striking art from all over the world, this is a truly unique space, with every detail carefully considered.
“It is so rewarding to be a part of a project like this,” comments Al Dueck, of DUXTON Windows & Doors. “Almost 10 years after developing our FiberWall™ product in response to designs like these, we continue to see stunning examples, in partnership with the highest calibre builders and designers in the city. There’s a real core talent of design in our city, and it’s one we should be proud of.”