PHOTOS: It’s Move-In Week For These Very Special Timber Block Homeowners!

Rosie and Gabe. Fusco have a story to tell, and we’ve been with them every step of the way. As exciting as it was to watch the Fuscos’ journey, nothing was better than what happened to them this week. It was move-in week for these brand new Timber Block homeowners!

Let’s start at the beginning

Rosie and Gabe knew from the time they became a couple that they shared the same vision – they would one day build the home of their dreams. They realized that to get to that point, they had to work hard, and so off they went! Both went on to have very successful careers, and before they knew it, they started scouting out builders, attending home shows, and searching for the land to build this forever home.

So, over 10 years ago, the pair walked into the Cottage Life Show and ended up meeting with members of Team Ontario at the Timber Block Booth. This is when they picked up their very first plan book and spent time looking through the models and weeding out things they wanted and things they didn’t. The Dakota certainly caught their eye, and they thought it might be “The One”. So, they packed up the car and made the (very snowy) trip to visit a Dakota model in Quebec. Immediately, however, they realized the Dakota was not nearly big enough for what they wanted. So, they put their snow boots and winter coats back on and slid over to visit the Denver model at Timber Block’s Mirabel location. They fell absolutely in love with the Denver and were excited to start visualizing what their dream home might look like.

They didn’t stop there. Thinking back to why they were interested in Timber Block, they turned around and made the trip to Mascouche, Quebec, where the Timber Block Factory used to be located (since then, Timber Block has built a brand new factory, not far, in Terrebonne.) Rosie said they had a private tour of the factory, and they knew right then and there, Timber Block was the right choice for them. “My husband is a mechanical engineer and has a ton of knowledge – he and I were so impressed with the actual technology of the wall system, it really blew us away. It was very important for us to see the factory firsthand.”

There’s another little part to this story. The Fuscos’ had land at the time. It was on a different lake, but after deciding what their dream home was going to look like, they decided that lot was way too small so they moved on and found a 5-acre private lakefront lot on a different lake. This was needed because after Rosie and Gabe made the changes they wanted, their home is going to end up being a whopping 5700 square feet!

“One of the biggest changes we made was to the ‘sunroom’,” says Rosie. “In short we added space on top of the sunroom, so it’s no longer open to above, and created an additional ‘lounge’ room. I could picture this special area to be more of a crash space that my kids and future grandkids could enjoy.” Rosie says they also wanted to move the stairs to open up the view. “Instead of walking in and seeing the staircase first thing, we shifted it to the right, and so now when you walk in the front door, you have a clear view right to the lake.

In addition, another major change to the plan came from a photo she saw on Timber Block’s Instagram page, where one client added the garage space in the basement area. “We loved the look of that,” says Rosie. “We had never seen a garage design like that before, and so instead of the original plan to have an “L” shape garage beside the house, it’s actually below and takes up about a third of the basement.”

The Fuscos’ had tons of fun with this project, because they already had a home on the property so they were literally watching it being built, every step of the way. “We were excited to be able to be hands-on, and able to see the progress, and now we will have the extra home to use as a guest house,” says Rosie.

We asked Rosie why they ultimately chose to build a Timber Block home. “The technology behind the wall system and the style of home Timber Block offered was perfect for us. Plus, we are in Canada, so the high insulation value provided by the Timber Block wall design in combination with using ICF for the foundation was important to us. In addition, we had so many changes, so having the ability to customize our plans along the way was absolutely necessary.”

Rosie says it’s not just about the technology, and the house itself, it was also about the people they met along the way. “Greg (Bruce) has been with us from Day 1. He even came with us when we were buying the property to make sure it was the right fit. The entire Timber Block team has been nothing but great to us!”

Fast forward to this week. Gabe and Rosie moved into one of the most beautiful homes we’ve seen to date. Let’s take at the exterior….

Now…let’s step inside…

And we are absolutely in love with these stairs….

So, what did Rosie say when we asked her how she was feeling as she was getting ready to move in? “It feels surreal to finally step into the home we’ve spent over a decade dreaming, planning, and building. To see that vision come to life is beyond anything we could have imagined, and we’re absolutely over the moon to begin this next chapter in our forever home.”

Stay posted! Rosie and Gabe have invited us back to take another look inside next summer! Congratulations to the newest members of the Timber Block family!