It’s a big night. The cleaners are coming. While it might not sound like the most exciting news in town, it means that much work has been done and we’re within reach of the finish line.

Few single-family home builders bring an interior designer on-board; and even fewer make this investment for a house built on speculation. But, here again we see the Balandra difference. In this article, Dunlin Shore’s interior designer shares her perspective on this home’s features and all those little extras that add up to a big difference.

The roof went on (finally) and the windows are in (most of them, but that's another story) and now we're in full swing with drywall and mud.

With consistently sunny, dry days for the past six weeks it made perfect sense to believe that today, the day we started roofing, would be no different. Not so.

Words were flying, tempers were flaring and blood pressure shot off the charts. I imagine arms flung up in the air in frustration and the impulse to throw whatever you still gripped in your hand from moments before (perhaps a hammer or chewed pen).

We thought we were going to have to settle…

Then a small miracle happened and these Panoramic Doors popped on our radar screen. Even their name alone was a breath of fresh air.

They say to write a good story there must be a hero, a great challenge and some kind of dramatic change or outcome...

Take a look at the stacks of house plan magazines and kits available at your local grocery store. It makes me shudder. Great intentions…but odds are not in anyone’s favour for crafting an inspiring and appropriate home.

By Matthew Hoekstra - Richmond Review
Published: July 29, 2011 10:00 AM
Updated: July 29, 2011 10:55 AM

Before drilling holes 60 metres deep for a high-tech geothermal system, developer Clive Alladin contacted a Coast Salish elder to bless the land.

“We did that not only to respect the land, but to respect the First Nations people,” he said. “This house is going to be forever tied to this land through that energy system.”

Alladin’s company, Richmond-based Balandra Development, is building a single-family home equipped with a geothermal heating and cooling system—without a buyer waiting in the wings.

That’s a first for Richmond, he said.

Developers usually consider such a project a risk, since geothermal systems can cost two to three times as much as conventional systems.

“We thought about it for a long time, but never found the right project because it’s very cost-prohibitive,” said Alladin. “Someone needs to get the ball rolling, and we feel we’re in a position right now to do that.”

This morning, instead of sifting through the dirt searching for a link to our First Nations peoples, I have before me a direct connection, in the flesh. Gerry, an Elder of the Coast Mountain Salish Peoples, has graciously accepted Balandra’s request to energetically clear and bless the land upon which will soon stand a new home, Dunlin Shore.  Today I will be witness to an age-old ceremony.