DREAM HOUSE ON TREND

“Modern Farmhouse” is a perfect choice for Millionaire Lottery dream home

WORDS: JOE LEARY X
PHOTOGRAPHY:  ALFONSO ARNOLD

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“My signature style is much more contemporary, but when I first saw this house and the lighting, location and style of home, I immediately decided ‘modern farmhouse,’” says Sandra Hurtley of Positive Space Staging and Design Inc. on her inspiration and thematic décor for one of this year’s Millionaire Lottery grand prize dream homes.

“It really makes sense in the Langley area. It’s a very equestrian-oriented community, so I decorated with horse art as it’s very livable and comfortable. It’s not like you’re going back in time and being traditional; it’s more about making it cosy with lots of organic natural materials and throwing in those modern elements.”

The 6,400-square-foot home is situated in the Walnut Grove area of Langley. It sits on just over half an acre and features six bedrooms, including a two-bedroom suite on the basement level, six bathrooms, an oversized two-car garage, a theatre room, gym and games area, and a detached 1,300-square-foot RV garage and workshop.

This prize package is worth over $3.2 million and is one of eight grand prize options, including a $2.7 million tax-free cash option.

For the purpose of decorating, planning and staging these homes, the turnaround time can be fairly limited.

“I am brought in approximately six to eight weeks prior to the home being open to the public,” Sandra says, noting she stays actively involved with the builder throughout the entire process.

“My goal from a décor standpoint is to make choices that really highlight the architecture and complement the features of the house,” she explains. “I did break the rules a little bit because the more traditional type of modern farmhouse uses a really neutral palette, but I threw in some colour. There’s blue on the island in the kitchen and I wanted to pick up on that colour and give it a little splash of yellow. I wanted it to feel fresh and bright and have some colour, so in that sense it’s a little different than what you see with modern farmhouse, but that was just my own take.”

When it came to the specific furnishings, Sandra called upon her trusted sources.

“Valley Direct Furniture is a family-owned business here in Langley and I’ve worked with them for a long time on a lot of projects. This is really their signature style,” she says. “In their showroom they have a lot of furniture with wood detail; they work with local BC and Canadian furniture makers and this whole organic natural style is what you see in Valley Direct. So this was a perfect project to partner on.”

Having plied her craft on several lottery dream homes in the past, Sandra always has a certain element or area known as her “wow” factor. For the Langley home, she feels it’s the horse art.

“The diptych (two-panel art meant to be hung together) in the den — the minute I saw it I just knew it was going to be the inspiration. It was the first thing I picked for the whole house and I fell in love with it immediately. I think it has so much impact and really speaks to where this house is: being in Langley, being in the valley. This is what I think of in terms of lifestyle.”

Sandra says she almost always chooses the artwork first and then builds the room from the colours and the feel of the art.

“In this case, the oversized denim sectional in the living room we had custom-made, and I really wanted to play off the blue that’s in the kitchen island. I think this is the first time that I’ve used yellow as an accent colour in a lottery home. Because of the time of year and the style we’re doing, it just felt right to go with denim with gold accents because we’ve got gold in the fixtures.”

The first home walkthrough is usually done with Carmen Hebert from Stylit Window Designs, who does the draperies.

“We start looking at fabrics and picking furniture because of the window of time we have to work with,” says Sandra. “Anything we do custom like this really needs to be sent to the workroom within 24 hours of our initial walkthrough.”

With often just weeks to get it all together, it’s vital that the parties work in unison.

“This is so different than any of the other homes I’ve done. It was so much fun for us because it’s so casual and a reflection of the community and Langley.”
Sandra contends that modern farmhouse is THE hot trend, as even newly constructed multi-unit projects are adopting the style.

And if you’re thinking that a farm-sized acreage is required to utilize modern farmhouse, her response is simple: “Oh goodness, no. In fact it’s a style that works really well with small spaces.”

The Millionaire Lottery supports the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation. Learn more at www.millionairelottery.com.