Creation through Collaboration

You may have noticed the stunning lakeside home that is featured on our Timeless home page. This was impeccably designed by the team at Sarasota Homes, headed by Creative Director, Michelle Fogolin, whom we recently had the pleasure to interview.

About Sarasota Homes

Sarasota Homes is a privately-owned custom builder based in St. Albert, Alberta (near Edmonton) for over 25 years, and the company takes pride in creating custom, one-of-a-kind homes. 

Creating a family dream home is a substantial undertaking, Michelle says. “Success is all about collaboration. With the buyers, and within our design team. That’s why we are lucky to have in-house talent — so we can adjust the floor plans easily. Each new home is customized.”

As she explains, one of Sarasota’s secrets is simply not spreading the team too thin. This means limiting the number of homes the company builds in a year so that each project gets the special attention it requires.

The Lake House

The Lake House started with a very special, premium lake-front lot.

“We bought the lot even before we had a buyer for the home because we knew it would be something special. The plan was to capture the best parts of lake living.”

Creative Director, Michelle Fogolin

This meant bringing the outside in, and capturing the maximum sunlight throughout the year. Design choices such as high vaulted ceilings and windows created an expansive feeling of sunshine, especially given the shorter winter daylight hours in central Alberta. 

The Sarasota team was thrilled when the home sold before it was complete. “In this case, it was as though the home was already exactly what the buyers wanted. They loved the open, airy feel, and chose to implement our full concept.”

The Lake House also received a feature on Propertygrams, which resulted in this wonderful video tour of the home. Hosts Tyler and Jaden marvelled over its special touches, such as a completely hidden golf simulator and/or home theatre room underneath the garage. 

Working and Living with Timeless Hardwood Floors

Leaning on Timeless’ trusted dealers and installers in the Edmonton area, Sarasota has been specifying Timeless’ engineered hardwood floors in their projects for about eight years. The Lake House property features Ancona, an engineered wide-plank European white oak hardwood from Timeless’ Costa Collection.

“I’ve found Timeless floors to be very durable,” Michelle explains, “So while it’s true that you need to care for any wood floor, Timeless stands up well to wear and tear, dogs, and children. It’s great because you can still live in the house. You don’t need to worry about it.”

But perhaps one of the greatest reasons for Timeless’ ongoing relationship with Sarasota is that element of collaboration that this builder values so much. “The team at Timeless will ask us what trends appeal to our customers before they plan out their coming year’s hardwood flooring lineup. They understand the colour schemes we’re looking for, and ensure their new releases reflect that,” says Michelle.

Looking Ahead

Our team at Timeless also took the opportunity to ask Michelle what trends she sees in engineered hardwood floors for the coming season.

“Right now it’s wider, soft-toned planks, in natural, unvarnished looks, between medium and light. And character marks are part of the look too.” 

With this in mind, readers can certainly count on Timeless to have even more natural, wide-plank-engineered hardwood floors in our 2023 release lineup. Stay tuned to our blog or join our email list to receive the Timepiece, our e-newsletter.   

We also invite you to learn more about Sarasota Homes or follow them on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest.