Ambassador Homes’ Saxony Manor

Push past soaring three-inch thick, 10-foot tall, solid Honduran Mahogany doors and into a regal foyer with 23-foot high, coffered ceilings and a celestial sea of LED lights that like stars, quietly complement a crystal and antique wrought-iron chandelier that glows like an ambient moon. Ornately customized plaster pilasters and corinthians with classical Roman flair harmonize the home’s French châteauesque allure. Cascade across expansive slabs of select Crema Marfil marble from Spain, hand-picked by builder Michal J. Cerny to skim only the first page of this architectural fairy tale. Ambassador Fine Custom Homes Inc.’s Saxony Manor is simply magical.

Cerny is the mastermind behind the design and construction of this enchanting mansion, and his special touch has captured the discerning gaze of homebuyers from as far away as Dubai and Hong Kong. When asked who his target market is, he humbly replies: “We don’t build homes for just anyone. Our clientele is a niche few that expect the finer things in life, and expect best-quality practices to achieve this,” as he welcomes me to tour his masterpiece, affectionately known as Saxony Manor. His polished wardrobe and old-world charm are a perfect foreword to the home’s sophisticated cordiality, reminiscent of the early 1900s.

Once the sublime wonder of the main foyer’s detailed design settles, I look straight ahead to see The Great Room – a name that truly reflects the supremeness of the space. Immediately a window-wall that provides a picturesque view greets you, with the enchanting scenery of a forested backyard and a 300-foot ravine drop to the Mississauga Golf and Country Club. Some might say that the room itself is even more striking than the million-dollar view. With plank-sized North American white oak hardwood floors, mystic black African wenge pinstriping, intricate recessed plaster wall panelling and a spectacular, floor-to-ceiling solid hand-carved marble fireplace mantle, it truly leaves you breathless. “We try to build every room with some flair, some sort of artistic twist or something special that makes it scream out a little bit of originality. We don’t build your typical box-type room,” says Cerny.

Saxony Manor is one of only six homes in Ontario with 100 per cent of its exterior built with buffed and chamfered Indiana limestone. “There is no precast, no stucco, no imitation man-made stone. Just real, quarried limestone,” says Cerny. It took him a year’s worth of choreographing cranes, welders and stone masons to place the $1 million-valued limestone on the 16-inch to 24-inch thick concrete foundation walls, and 25 tons of structural steel framing throughout the home. It is the first home in Mississauga with 600-amp power and the 13th home with a two-inch water main.

Though the house certainly screams success, it lacks the pretentiousness that can taint a natural sentiment of intimacy. “It’s important to make our spaces liveable and warm. It doesn’t feel like it’s an 18,000-square foot home,” says Cerny, who achieves this warmth with a $1 million-worth HVAC system, in-floor heating, Automated Smart Home System, BASF foam insulation found throughout the home and a heightened attention to unique subtleties that create statements of affluence. Some of these details can be seen when looking up at the ceiling in the family room, which is completely constructed from authentic hardwood floor planks or the $350,000-worth of custom plaster work throughout. “We excel at constructing complex building structures and interior designs, hoping that it will yield that wow-factor. Someone is going to look up at this and really appreciate it,” he quietly remarks.

Saxony Manor’s kitchen is fit for a king and queen, with its granite and copper mineral veined countertops (only 16 slabs sold in Canada; Cerny scooped up four), custom cabinetry and technologically accelerated appliances. These exceptional touches are adorned throughout the home, such as the chevron-patterned hardwood flooring, coffered ceilings and panelled walls in the office – all made from North American black walnut. The 118-year-old leaning maple tree now turned into a harvest table in the Gathering Room, and the ensuite bathroom with a water beam that streams from the ceiling to fill the hot tub make life beautifully comfortable.

Cerny’s truism of never cutting corners is perhaps one of the reasons why he commissioned a Hungarian sculptor to make the clay model of the two-foot-tall Corinthian from which the mould was cast to make the final plaster product from. A walnut-panelled elevator takes you from the third floor in-law suite down to a cork-floored fitness room, sound-proof movie theatre, and prestigious party room. This dream home impresses with a double-decker European eight-car lift system, a lower-level Spanish cedar and stone wine cellar, and upper-level library. A master bedroom the size of a condominium is complete with a walnut walk-in dressing room and 18-foot ceilings. Every detail was completely designed by Cerny – from floor plans and elevations, to the custom wrought-iron work, plaster work, self-supporting elliptical staircase with church-sized handrails, and custom cabinetry valued at $700,000.

Ambassador’s latest feat includes an award for Best Practice from the Canadian Project Excellence Awards and a nomination for Best New Home Design at the upcoming 30th annual BILD Awards. This acclaim goes beyond Saxony Manor’s stunning esthetics and into the realm of structural ingenuity. With 18 kilometres of wiring, fibre optics, Crestron lighting and advanced technology with hidden wiring for art collections, this mansion is wired for the future. “So many people are solely concerned about the cosmetic appeal, which is great, but I wish more people would be equally concerned about the integrity of what is behind the walls,” says Cerny.

Every spatial extent of Saxony Manor has been artistically and architecturally accounted for. “I love the use of cubic footage, not just square footage. Often, a substantially taller room with interesting lines can bring more opulence and a more dramatic feel to it,” says Cerny, as he stands beneath Saxony Manor’s towering ceilings. The only thing this home needs now is a family that is fervent to fill the unwritten pages of this fairy tale. www.ambassadorfinecustomhomesinc.com 416.777.2324