Claridge was the first builder sales centre I went to in Barrhaven.
It wasn’t for any particular reason but rather it just so happened to be the first one I came across as I was driving around.
I grabbed a price list and the floorplans and then visited the model homes.
Price wise, the
Queensby and
Bradwell were within my budget.
Included in the pricing of the townhomes: finished basement, fireplace, hardwood on main floor, ceramic tiles in front foyer and powder room, two potlights and three kitchen appliances.
Claridge also offers 40oz carpeting as their standard.
Overall, you probably wouldn’t have to spend as much on upgrades if buying one of their townhomes.
The
Queensby ended up on my final shopping list but I’ll start my comments with the
Bradwell.
Bradwell
The Bradwell at 1745 sq ft is quite nice. I like the layout of the main floor with the winding staircase. Looks very rich. Main floor is open concept and is quite welcoming. I’m not so sure I liked how you have to cut across the living room to get to the staircase to the basement. I have a lot of junk which I imagine will be stored downstairs so it seems a little inconvenient having to navigate through the whole house to get downstairs. The biggest knock against the Bradwell is the second floor. There is only one bathroom so everyone shares it. The master bedroom, while a nice size with a sloped ceiling, did not have a walk-in closet. Just a his and hers closet with sliding doors. The finished basement was nice although I didn’t necessarily want a finished basement. In the end, the lack of a master ensuite and walk-in closet did this model in and I struck it off my list
Queensby
The Queensby at 1620 sq ft is smaller than the Bradwell overall. But this model offers two bathrooms on the second floor AND a walk-in closet. Along with the “freebies” noted above, this seemed like a pretty good buy for the price. So what didn’t I like about it? The main floor seemed a bit tight. There is a wall that separates the kitchen and the living room so there isn’t much of an open concept feeling. The fireplace protrudes from the wall cutting into space even more. The kitchen has a pantry which seems out of place. It’s in the middle of the wall and it’s not very big. The dishwasher opening is right by the sink so you can’t really stand in front of the sink with the dishwasher door open. For me, I usually do a quick rinse of dishes and then transfer them into the dishwasher. Who am I kidding, I usually just pile dishes in the sink and then load them all at once. :)
The second floor layout was fine. Nothing to really fault about it except the vanities in each of the bathrooms were on the small side. I didn’t like the basement layout. The way the walls were laid out and the doors to the furnace room and storage areas didn’t lend itself very well to using it as a home theatre room.
A friend of mine commented that the layout of the main floor didn’t suit me. I like to entertain and it just felt too tight. Something irked her about the layout of the main floor too but she couldn’t put a finger on it. We’ll call it a “je ne sais quoi”.
The last thing that I wasn’t keen on was the location of the next block of townhomes. They were still fairly close to Standherd and given the expansion of Strandherd and Barrhaven in general, I suspect that traffic noise will be a bit high.
So that’s my overview of Claridge. I was really close to buying the Queensby but you’ll find out later why I chose the Mattamy Fernwater.
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