Sylvancroft is an 8,000 square foot family home that has graced Stony Plain Road for roughly 100 years. It is surrounded by formal gardens and the home itself is made of Scottish stone and brown brick. This past July the mansion finally passed out of the family’s hands in bankruptcy court. The entire homestead was sold for $2.5 million to Ivan Beljan, an Edmonton developer.
Despite the family’s lack of agreement on whether the home should be on the historic register that same developer has decided to preserve the home. Alter it of course, but keep the architectural features largely intact, though not legally obliged to do so. Beljan unveiled his designs for the new estate this past weekend.
The main home will be subdivided into four or five luxury flats, each selling for between $800,000 and $900,000. Each one will be roughly 1,600 square feet. In addition, Beljan plans to add ten single-family homes on the estate grounds, some of which will be semi-detached. All would be upscale and sold as condos, going for around $1.2 million.
This may seem pricey to some, but considering that the heavily wooded location above Groat Ravine offers a great deal of privacy, Beljan has no doubt the project will fly. It will take a lot of work though, particularly to turn the manor home into flats. David Holdsworth, who is a heritage planner from Edmonton, is pleased that Beljan is attempting to save the essence of the mansion. But, he has yet to see the plans, and hopes that in the renovation much of the interior can also be saved.