A Bohemian Design, Inside and Out

As the global pandemic has shifted our focus to making the most of life at home, the look and comfort of your house is more important than ever. This means changing your living spaces to be more functional, while adding personal touches in each room to express the individuality of you and your family.

With that in mind, the goal with this year’s Minto Dream Home was to create a home that is beautiful inside and out with a look and feel that inspires you to embrace your unique qualities. It takes a full team effort to achieve this, but with the help of the Tanya Collins Design team and a total of 70 companies donating materials or trades, the vision was brought to life in the Bohemian.

An inside look at the Bohemian

The 2020 Minto Dream Home – the Bohemian – is designer-decorated and fully furnished, while the exterior of the home draws inspiration from our Mahogany community in Manotick Village.

The 3-floor, 4-bedroom and 4.5-bathroom home incorporates an eclectic, yet refined, boho-chic style, which is a blend of art history (boho) and sophistication (chic). The interior design is also rooted with earthy tones and organic textures—these ‘rustic’ elements come through with matte finishes, vintage looking accents and the use of a variety of wood species throughout each room.

Boho design is typically associated with artistry that includes a lot of colour and a lot of patterns, but in the Bohemian, Tanya Collins incorporated a more neutral approach to bring an element of sophistication to the home. To do so, the colour palette features black and white along with woods, terra cotta and dark green, adding character to the home while drawing influence from Middle Eastern, Spanish and Moorish design—this includes herringbone patterned tiled flooring, diamond patterned rugs, exotic mirrors and accent tables.

The main floor is open and airy with 10’ ceilings and glass transom windows over the main entrance and doors. As you enter the home, you’re greeted with a clean, inviting foyer with black and white tiled flooring accented by an antique-looking bench and beach-inspired cabinet at the far end.

Similar to most of our Single Family Homes, the family room and kitchen flow together in the Bohemian with the dining room being separate. Wood flooring adds warmth to these rooms, while vintage-looking rugs and wallpapered feature walls keep the boho-chic style consistent in each space. The dramatic U-shaped stairway stretching from the basement to the third floor is a definite attention grabber, and the wooden ceiling beams combined with black windows in the kitchen and family room creates an appealing contrast against the softer coloured walls.

The living room is bright and full of windows, and is completed with a fireplace to compliment the modern, cottagey feel. A grid pattern is incorporated into the windows as a nod to the neighbourhood’s historic architecture, while the wallpapered mantle ties in with the boho design.

A lot of styling layers were added to the kitchen such as meticulous framing details, custom range hood, mixed terra cotta backsplash tile, signature base framed cabinets and an impressive armoire. Off the kitchen, you’ll find an enclosed three-season room with a cozy fireplace and a similar cathedral ceiling as the loft—perfect for a reading room or social spot for quiet conversation.

With that in mind, the third-floor loft is another dedicated lounging space with beautiful cathedral beams that add to the country charm of the home. Moorish influences are featured in this room with the star-shaped pendant hanging from the ceiling and a hand-embroidered suzani backing the sectional couch. The loft also includes a balcony that overlooks the community pond and rear creek.

All four bedrooms in the Bohemian are connected to a bathroom. The ensuite is a statement on its own with warm and dark, wood-like tile along the walls from floor to ceiling. The white and black stand alone bathtub is a place for pampering, while the curbless shower includes black mullioned glass and the macramé in the sconces add a touch of lightness to the room.

To say the primary bedroom is spacious would be an understatement, and despite its neutral colour, accents of shiplap, macramé and patterned wallpaper add texture and warmth. Aside from the gorgeous ensuite bathroom, the large walk-in closet with dark dressers and wood flooring will have you dreaming of owning the Bohemian—fill it with shoes, dresses, suits, robes and everything that is uniquely you!

Finally, the basement is designed to be practical and functional. The large, open-concept layout features a bar, full bathroom, home theatre and a gym—a wall separates the gym from the main space, while the windows bring in a lot of natural lighting into the basement.

A view from outside

The 2020 Minto Dream Home makes its return to Mahogany after being located in Potter’s Key, Stittsville for the past two years. As such, the Bohemian’s design is a blend of old style with new style—the exterior of the home draws inspiration from the contemporary craftsmanship found throughout Manotick Village.

Minto Communities’ Product Development Manager, Karen van der Velden, wanted to pay homage to the community’s architecture with Watson’s Mill being her focus. This is most notable with the Bohemian’s white-stone-toned exterior and wraparound porch that’s supported by oversized, square columns and stunning gables on three sides of the home.

Wood-looking siding combined with a rough face, smooth corners and charcoal grey accents completes the traditional look of the home. This is also a nod to Watson Mill’s theme, while remaining true to the historical architecture that’s typically found in small Eastern Ontario towns like Manotick Village.

At over 4,700 square feet, the Bohemian is large, but with it being located on an oversized 45-foot corner lot, it fits right in amongst the other homes within the community. And with its exterior stonework, high ceilings and transom windows above the doorways inside, the rich character of the home lends itself to the historic feeling found in the area’s older houses.

Take a look for yourself

As proud builders and designers of the Grand Prize for the CHEO Dream of a Lifetime Lottery – the Minto Dream Home – the goal is to create something unique and inspiring; to build a home that gets people excited about the prospect of calling it their own. That said, ultimately, we want to encourage everybody to support the CHEO Foundation by purchasing a ticket for the lottery.

The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) improves the lives of half a million individuals each year—patients, family members, friends, medical practitioners and researchers—including many of us here at Minto. We are blessed to have CHEO as part of our community, and having raised over $5 million in 2019’s lottery, our objective is to sell out of tickets and surpass that total this year.

Unlike previous Minto Dream Homes, the Bohemian is closed to the public for in-person showings—for the safety of our community, this year’s home features a virtual tour only.

Take an in-depth look at the 2020 Minto Dream Home; you’re invited to experience the Bohemian through our 3D, fully interactive virtual tour! And don’t forget to purchase your tickets for the CHEO Dream of a Lifetime Lottery before they sell out.

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