Stately mansions on spectacular estate lots at Portnall Rise in Bradford

For discerning homebuyers looking for an extraordinary community, Portnall Rise in Bradford by Emery Homes is a spectacular choice. Overlooking the Holland Creek and the dazzling beauty of the Oak Ridges Moraine, each home is a work of art, enhanced with superlative craftsmanship and embellished with lavish features and finishes.

Choose from a fine collection of oversized lots with phenomenal views, including serene cul-de-sac and forested lots, beautiful meadowland and rolling hillside lots. Plans from 2,366 to over 6,800 square feet are positioned on one- to three-acre lots. Prices range from one million dollars and up.

Truly magnificent custom features distinguish these palatial homes, including three-car garages, loggias, ten-foot ceilings, fine-crafted cabinetry, granite and marble finishes, spa ensuites and more.

There is an exquisitely decorated Model Home open for viewing.

Close to the fine amenities of Bradford, the shops and services of nearby Newmarket and Highway 400 to downtown Toronto, Portnall Rise offers the ultimate in convenience within a prestigious pastoral setting.

For over 40 years, Emery Homes has emerged as a leading name in the home building industry in the GTA. Today, Emery communities are found in some of the most unique neighbourhoods, like Portnall Rise in Bradford, Laureate Green in Waterloo, Laureate Walk in Vaughan, Envision in Burlington, Williamstown in Unionville, Brookside on the Rouge, as well as Streetsville Glen, which backs onto the Credit River next to the Streetsville Glen Golf Club.

Emery Homes Expands Relationship with AVID

Madison, WI – August 3, 2010 – After beginning a partnership by working with the AVID Advisors, Emery Homes has signed on for three ongoing research programs with AVID.

Emery Homes’ parent company, the Emery Group of Companies, has had a significant presence in the Greater Toronto Area’s real estate market for over 40 years. The Emery Group has been involved in the commercial and office sectors as well as in all areas of development from land acquisition, planning and servicing, design, and property management. Eleven years ago Emery Homes joined the residential construction industry, having since built sixteen hundred homes in eight distinct communities. The company attributes its success to their commitment to innovation, professionalism, and customer satisfaction.

Emery Homes builds townhomes to custom-style estate homes, while also offering Energy Star® qualified homes to customers, but they take a lot of pride in redesigning subdivisions with new and fresh ideas. One such innovation was their “Cortile” designs at Williamstown in Unionville; these townhomes and semi-detached designs began offering a side courtyard next to every home, which was something that was never before offered in the GTA.

The Greater Toronto Home Builder’s Association has awarded Emery Homes twelve awards including “Best Design” three times as well as “Project of the Year” twice.

Tim Bailey, General Manager of AVID Canada is enthusiastic about the growing partnership, “Emery Homes is a very analytical and detail-driven company that leverages a variety of metrics to monitor processes, quality, and service. AVID’s Customer Loyalty Management Program is a natural fit for Emery’s objective to continually provide an exceptional customer experience”.

To learn more about Emery Homes, visit: www.emeryhomes.net

About AVID

Founded in 1993, AVID ( www.avidratings.com ) is a full-service customer loyalty management firm, providing customer loyalty research, organizational strategies, employee training, and proprietary solutions to the home building industry. Since 2003, AVID’s team has been working with leading Canadian home builders to improve referrals, margins, and long-term customer loyalty. Today, with more than 50 Canadian and 200 U.S. home building clients, AVID Canada and AVID Ratings are the leading providers of customer loyalty management services in North America. In 2010, AVID Ratings launched AvidBuilder.com (AvidBuilder™), a content-rich and ad-free resource of unbiased housing news and information.

For more information please contact Tim Bailey, General Manager, AVID Canada, 800-987-6318 or email Tim.Bailey@avidglobal.ca .

Envision – Second Phase Homes Moving Fast!

SYDNIA YU
From Friday’s Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 12:00AM EDT

Hundreds of prospective buyers attended a recent preview for the second phase of Emery Homes’ Envision project in Burlington, and about half of the houses were snatched up in less than a week. The response was largely due to the fact that the popular models in the first phase were carried over to the second, the builder says.

Envision is located within a larger subdivision called Alton Village, which is taking shape between Appleby to Walker lines, and Highway 407 and Dundas Street.

Emery sold all 176 homes in Envision’s first phase before launching the second, which contains more than 80 freehold townhouses, semi-detached houses, and detached single-family residences on 36-foot lots. Some properties back on to green space or a creek.

“[The designs] were very successful in phase one, so we didn’t think any further changes were needed,” president Robert Cumming says.

Facades can be brick and vinyl, all brick, or stone and vinyl. Homes with the latter materials have more windows than the other models. The Rosenthal model, for instance, has a projecting gable that creates corner windows in a second-floor room.

“People want as much light coming in as possible,” Mr. Cumming adds, as well as panoramic views of the Niagara Escarpment.

Earlier this year, another plan at Envision — the 1,385-square-foot Richardson model — was named best design for a semi-detached house under 1,500 square feet by the Greater Toronto Home Builders Association and Urban Development Institute (GTHBA-UDI).

“It’s got a very pleasing design with a mix of both siding and brick, but it’s not the traditional way of splitting brick and vinyl,” Mr. Cumming says.

It includes a great room, eat-in kitchen, three bedrooms upstairs, including the master, which has an en suite.

For those looking for the privacy of a detached home, but at a lesser price, there are single-family homes attached only at the garage, starting in the $290,000s.

Many models include great rooms, formal dining rooms, eat-in kitchens and family rooms, as well as master suites featuring walk-in closets, and private bathrooms with a tub and shower stall.

Detached homes will have double garages, nine-foot ceilings on the main floor and lot depths of up to 130 feet.

Depending on the plan, there will be half walls with columns, fireplaces, sliding patio doors, and main- or second-floor laundry rooms.

As a preview bonus, purchasers will receive $5,000 toward upgrades or five appliances.

Residents will be minutes from established amenities, such as shops, schools and outdoor facilities, including the Millcroft Golf Club and Bronte Creek Provincial Park.

A Touch of Country Near the City

SYDNIA YU
Special to The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Sep. 14, 2007 12:00AM EDT

Emery Homes is gearing up to launch a low-rise community later this month near the Laurel Creek Conservation Area just outside Waterloo.

Named Laureate Green – to reflect the area’s natural surroundings – the development will feature more than 100 residences on 36- to 50-foot lots at Rideau River Street and Conservation Drive, and include a storm water pond and wooded areas.

“It has a very country feel … because of the conservation area to the south and the open farm country to the north,” Emery president Robert Cumming says. “Even though you have the best of country living, you’re in the city.”

He adds that it’s a desirable location from a number of perspectives.

Located about 100 kilometres west of Toronto, the project is adjacent to a growing section of Waterloo that has easy access to Conestoga Mall and outlet stores, as well as museums, galleries and live theatre. The village of St. Jacobs’ popular farmers market, as well as its boutiques and restaurants, are a short drive away.

The city also boasts the University of Waterloo’s new research and technology park, which includes high-tech companies such as Research In Motion Ltd.

Offering a variety of homes, the builder hopes to attract a wide range of buyers – young professionals, families and empty-nesters. There are 16 models – 15 two-storey designs and a bungalow with a loft – that measure from 2,074 to 3,695 square feet.

To complement existing residences nearby, the builder went with classic and Mediterranean-style architecture. Homes will have stone, stucco and brick facades with steeply pitched roofs, prominent entryways, and everything from two-storey to circular windows.

The interiors will be completely modern, with nine-foot ceilings on the main floor, oak staircases, as well as a mix of oak hardwood, ceramic tile and broadloom flooring.

A 3,078-square-foot model home will give potential buyers a taste of the various design features. Situated on a 47-foot-wide lot, the Forest Hill model will have a portico to a double-door entrance and an arched window set into a gable.

Decorative columns will flank the entrance to the living and dining rooms. The latter will feature a coffered ceiling and an art niche.

The design also includes a library, and a great room that opens to the floor above. Low walls with columns separate the great room, which has a gas fireplace, from an eat-in kitchen that features a pantry, an island with a breakfast bar and doors to a patio.

A laundry room will be located upstairs with the three bedrooms, including a master suite with his and hers closets and a private bathroom with twin sinks, oval tub and glass shower stall.

Energy-saving features can be added, as Emery Homes is an Energy Star certified builder.

Move-in dates are slated for next spring.

Envision II – Builder Targets First-Timers

SYDNIA YU
From Friday’s Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Apr. 11, 2008 12:00AM EDT

Like many builders within a growing subdivision in the northeast end of Burlington, Emery Homes is selling singles and semi-detached homes. But Emery is one of only few focused on adding smaller homes to the mix to attract first-timer buyers and young couples.

Emery has just released 47 freehold townhouses at its Envision II site, part of the Alton Village development west of Appleby Line and north of Dundas Street.

“It is our last release of this type of product in the project,” says Emery president Robert Cumming. “We think it’s been quite well received in Burlington, and we’ve brought a number of new people to Burlington as well.”

The builder is also earning recognition for its designs; the 1,423-square-foot Violet model, a popular plan from the first phase, is a finalist in the best new home design category for a semi-detached or town home under 1,500 square feet in the Building Industry and Land Development Association’s 2008 Home Builder Awards.

As with Emery’s other models, it will have large windows to maximize natural light — as well as views of the Niagara Escarpment — a double-door entry and a single-car garage.

It also features a walkout to a covered balcony above a portico, “which is something we have on all our larger homes as well,” adds Mr. Cumming. “It’s a bit more expensive to build, but it gives some sense of quality and drama to the front elevation.”

Entering the home, there will be a formal dining room and a family room with an optional gas fireplace and a half wall separating the breakfast room in the kitchen.

The main floor also has a powder room, while the main bathroom is upstairs amid three bedrooms. The master suite has a walk-in closet and a private four-piece bathroom.

The Primrose model is a 1,750-square-foot end unit with a different three-bedroom and three-bathroom layout. Inside, there will be a formal living/dining room and a casual, open concept family room and eat-in kitchen. Double doors will open to the master suite upstairs.

Standard finishes will include ceramic finishes, oak pickets and railings, and oval tubs and separate shower stalls in en suite bathrooms.

For a short time, buyers will get $5,000 toward upgrades or five appliances.

Townhouses will be completed beginning in early 2009 as Emery has begun to move purchasers in to the initial release of homes. Condominium townhouses are in the works.

“We have a nice mix of various types of housing,” says Mr. Cummings. “It makes the streetscapes more interesting to drive and walk down.”

In addition, offering a wide range of product allows groups of people to live within the same community.

The master planned community will be rounded out with parks, trails, retail shops and schools.

The Millcroft Golf Club and Bronte Creek Provincial Park are in the immediate vicinity, as well as waterfront parks and beach, GO Transit station and highways 407 and the QEW.

Large Lots, Extraordinary Views

Sydnia Yu

From Friday’s Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Aug. 20, 2010 1:54PM EDT

When Emery Homes unveiled its plans for a community of grand homes on sprawling estate lots in Bradford, the Toronto-based builder was confident their biggest model – measuring nearly 4,600-square-feet – would be an ample size to serve the market.

Buyers immediately gravitated toward the project’s larger plans to accommodate their children, nannies and extended family members, yet still wanted more space for everything from a fourth garage to a sixth bedroom.

“Because of the high demand for larger homes, we’re coming up with three new plans that range from 6,000 to 6,600 square feet,” says Avril Lister, vice-president of sales and marketing. “We can do almost anything up there because of the size of the lots.”

Situated about 45 minutes north of Toronto, the private enclave called Portnall Rise will comprise 63 upscale bungalows and two-storey manors on one- to three-acre lots, including many overlooking the Holland Marsh and Oak Ridges Moraine.

“It’s a beautiful piece of land and the houses are phenomenal,” Ms. Lister says. “There’s not much around with those lot sizes so close to the city.”

Since the project will be set high on a hill, 49 homes will also have the benefit of walkouts from basements to backyards surrounded either by meadows or wooded valley lands.

“You’ve got almost an unobstructed view,” Ms. Lister says. “In the winter time, the snow is lovely and in the fall, it’s just a mass of gold and copper.”

Despite the project’s secluded countryside setting, residents will be minutes away from schools, parks and community and sports centres in the main part of town, as well as eateries, shops and services. “We’re very close to several golf courses,” Ms. Lister says.

The Bradford GO Train station and Highway 400 are also within a 10-minute drive, making it easy to commute to cottage country and larger cities such as Newmarket and Vaughan.

Interested buyers can browse through a catalogue of classic home designs with brick, stone, and stucco façades, three-car garages and covered porches, as well as decorative details including pitched roofs, gables, copulas, arched windows and dormers.

Bungalows currently range between 2,272 and 3,422 square feet, and two-storey houses offer 3,346 to 6,098 square feet.

The model home showcases the popular Portnall Rise design, which offers 4,589 square feet of living space, including four bedrooms and four bathrooms.

Highlights include a main-floor study, formal dining room, open eat-in kitchen and two-storey great room, in addition to a master suite with a private bathroom, a walk-in closet and access to a loggia and three-seasons room.

Other plans will feature spiral staircases, a fifth bedroom and solariums. Elevators will be optional.

Interiors will be finished with oak staircases, gas fireplaces and CaesarStone or granite kitchen countertops, plus 55-ounce carpeting, oak hardwood and porcelain tile floors. In addition, buyers will receive stainless steel kitchen appliances.

There will be 10- and nine-foot ceilings on the main and second floors respectively, plus coffered ceilings in some areas.

Energy efficient features will range from high-efficiency furnaces and water tanks to water-saving shower heads and toilets.

Buyers can move in one year after their purchase date.