Making An Entrance
With luxe details meant to maximize functionality and value, this modern French château-inspired family home in Mississauga makes an elegant first impression.
By Julie Gedeon | Photography by Title Building Group
The owners of this newly built Title Building Group custom home didn’t have an exact name for what they sought in their dream abode—they just knew how they wanted it to look, work and most importantly, feel as the young family’s household.
“We’re so delighted that our builder, along with the project’s architectural and interior designers, have been able to give us such timeless elegance in a house that’s also so homey,” one of them says. “It’s a house that won’t ever feel stuck in passing trends, but also where I could immediately see us raising our children.”
A modern French château interpretation is what gives the house a much grander presence than its over 5,000 square feet of living space, four bedrooms and four bathrooms would suggest, according to Justin Miandro, Title Building Group’s owner. “We took advantage of the rare corner lot in Mississauga to make the house feel so much larger by presenting it on its width,” he says.
The grand entrance, with its double doors and artistic overhead archway, makes for impressive curb appeal. “The project’s architectural designers did a phenomenal job in how they established the symmetry and so many elegant details that are not usually found in mid-sized homes, and I’m so glad that we could achieve this attainable luxury for our clients,” Miandro says.
A striking central entrance was essential to staying true to the French château inspiration, says architectural designer Pamir Rafiq, who, alongside his brother Aamou Rafiq, is co-founder of Lucid Design Studio. “We aimed to create a modern home that features the details to look as if it’s been in a family for generations,” he says. “The roundabout drive also makes a big first impression.”
Precast cement in the front columns mimics limestone, and the same detailing enriches the house’s window frames and frieze board trim. “It’s a more affordable option and, honestly, you can’t tell the difference unless you get really up close,” Rafiq says. “Even then, only a trained eye would be able to do so.” The design gives the homeowners the option of installing a chandelier under the portico to add some outside glam or inside to make the archway sparkle from within—or both.
“It’s a house that won’t ever feel stuck in passing trends.”
Black window frames anchor the off-white brick facade to boost the building’s expansive appearance. “The windows are in different sizes to create the essential symmetry on both sides of the main entrance,” Rafiq explains. “We chose tall windows again to make the two-storey home look bigger.” Instead of a French château’s traditional bell curve along the roof’s edge, the designers opted for a smaller eavestrough to further add height and give the home a modern rendering.
Designer Natasha Gonzalez, co-founder of Natasha & Michael Design Studio, carries the concept of attainable grandeur throughout the home’s interiors with smart choices that keep the kids in mind. “While the powder room and bathrooms will feature marble and natural stone, we’ve chosen a more durable porcelain that looks like marble for the kitchen counters,” she notes. “We’ve also selected fewer but larger floor tiles because they always make a space appear bigger and there’s less grout lines to clean.”
Elegant moulding is featured in the dining room because it is the first area that guests see as they enter the house. “We’ve created a mosaic pattern to enrich the long planks in the wooden flooring that is most everywhere else,” Gozalez says.
Luxe practicality includes enveloping the entrance cabinetry in a rich wallpaper that is easily changed to freshen the decor and a porcelain slab for the fireplace that resembles travertine. “These are smart choices that elevate a home’s appearance without breaking the budget,” Gonzalez says.
She recommended a light colour palette throughout most of the interior to add the perception of depth and strike a balance with the home’s wider orientation. “We added some darker accents in the fabrics and furnishings instead,” Gonzalez says. “We also chose fewer but large pieces of furniture to create the proper scale to go with the home’s grand exterior.”
Soft ambient lighting extends both inside and out in a variety of track, pot and undercabinet placements to give the perfect customizable glow no matter the occasion.
Each thoughtful element of this elegant and luxurious family home quietly but confidently showcases its elegance, making for a customized house that has just the right look, functionality and feel, both for now and generations to come.