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Marie-Eve Baril knows the faucet game. Her parents launched Montreal-based Baril 40 years ago, after her mother became frustrated by how difficult it was to find beautiful faucets for the home.

Her parents began importing high-end Italian faucets and the company grew from there.

Today, Baril designs its faucets in Montreal and assembles them at its manufacturing facility in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, with products now sold across North America.

Since Marie-Eve Baril and her brother, Jean-Sébastien Baril, took over the company in 2010, the brand has expanded dramatically.

“We’ve grown about five or six times bigger in terms of volume and employees. We’re all across North America,” she says.

New collections inspired by fashion and nostalgia

This growth has not pulled the company away from its original design-first philosophy. It is visible in Baril’s latest collections, which lean into colour, tactility, nostalgia and softer forms.

To mark its 40th anniversary, Baril launched Archive 40, a limited-edition reinterpretation of one of the company’s original bathroom faucets from the 1980s. The pink-and-gold-toned design embraces vintage-inspired details and soft pastel finishes, with only 40 numbered pieces produced.

“We had fun with it,” says Baril.

One of their most striking collections is Marie Kitchen, created in collaboration with Montreal fashion designer Marie Saint Pierre. This sculptural collection includes tactile spherical handles and bright tangelo-orange accents inspired by food and colour.

“The sphere itself is not perfectly round. It’s organic. So when you touch it, you feel a movement on the sphere,” says Baril.

The collection was inspired by elemental forms and sensuality, she says: “The sphere was the earth and the spout was the thing that delivered the water out of the earth.”

A family business built on beauty

Despite the company’s growth, Baril says its original philosophy remains unchanged. Her mother started the business to bring beautiful products into people’s homes, and this hasn’t changed.

That design-first thinking feels increasingly relevant as kitchens and bathrooms continue to evolve into spaces that are as emotional and expressive as they are practical. According to Baril, homeowners interact with these spaces more intimately than they may realize. “The faucet, especially in the kitchen, is the product that you will touch the most in your house every day.”

Baril, now president of the company, says she always knew she wanted to work in business and eventually join the family company. As children, she and her brother regularly accompanied their parents to trade exhibitions and were immersed in conversations about suppliers, customers and design trends.

“We were hearing about faucets and customers and suppliers all the time at the house,” she says.

The company’s direction shifted after Baril’s father died while she and her brother were still young. Their mother continued running the company alone.

Some years later, her mother asked her to join the business, Baril says her answer came immediately: “The decision was made in like 30 seconds. I said I’m coming in,” she says. Her brother joined the company too, and they’ve never looked back.

It’s very difficult to be an entrepreneur and start a business, and Baril says she and her brother are grateful their mother had built a business with a solid customer base and brand recognition. Their job has been to structure and grow it.

Bathrooms and kitchens as emotional spaces

Baril says homeowners are increasingly moving away from harsh minimalist looks and embracing softer, more timeless forms.

“We see more rounder shapes,” she says.

And while trends continue to evolve, she believes quality and longevity remain essential. For Baril, that combination of beauty, practicality and emotional connection has remained at the centre of the company for four decades.

“Bringing beautiful products into people’s homes is still the basis of it,” says Baril.

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A property called Sunset Ridge Estate better back that up with views of awesome setting suns, and this Raymond Bonter-designed home definitely lives up to the name. On sunny days, of course.

Despite being situated in South Surrey, the Georgian-style estate faces more west than you’d expect, says listing agent Karen Conyers of Conyers & Associates, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada — perfect positioning to capture the day’s final rays glowing through the property’s mature trees onto the Nicomekl River and Boundary Bay beyond.

But even on cloudy days the property shines. Passing through the iron gates, designed by the home’s current owner and crafted by a local iron worker in the shape of the Tree of Life, you’re greeted by a lovingly landscaped garden of original plants, including 40 hydrangea bushes.

Around the back of the 1.27 acreage is a pool, hot tub and plenty of decking for outdoor entertaining — and catching those stunning sunsets. There’s also a pool house for storage, water tank and furnace, as well as full bath, toilet, changing room and two separate showers.

Down 120 wooden steps, fashioned from trees cleared during construction of the home, sits a rarity here: a private dock. “These docks were put in ages ago,” says Conyers. “My best estimation is that there are about a dozen on the river and that’s it. If you don’t have one, you cannot get one. The Coast Guard occasionally goes up and down the river looking for illegal activity and people putting in a dock when you’re not allowed to.”

This one was grandfathered in, but, alas, you won’t be able to park your yacht alongside. “It’s a tidal river,” says Conyers. So low tide drops down to about 12 inches and will ground a bigger boat. But you can certainly tie up a canoe, kayak or dingy, and leave your larger vessel at nearby Crescent Beach Marina.

What’s inside

Through the front doors, you enter what’s called a Grand Hall Plan, a wide-open foyer with 20-foot ceilings. To one side, French doors lead into an office and, to the other, similar doors open onto the dining room, each room’s ceiling stretching 14 to 16 feet. Adjacent is a butler’s pantry with wine fridge, which abuts the kitchen with two islands to encourage the joy of cooking (and helpful hands). One of the islands has a gas range top with griddle and pop-up vent.

A huge, British-made AGA cast-iron stove features two covered burners that stay hot, so no time or energy is wasted preheating, as well as four ovens, including a steam oven, a warming oven and the main oven. Radiant heat cuts down on fuel and evenly distributes warmth throughout the ovens to prevent food from drying out.

The creamy colour of the kitchen’s cabinetry, by Chilliwack-based Old World Custom Cabinets, complements the stove’s hue, says Conyers.

Other features include a Sub-Zero fridge/freezer, Travertine floor tile and granite countertops, including one long, unbroken single slab.

All of the home’s triple-glazed windows are German-made Euroline that tilt and swivel to catch the outdoor breezes. In addition to a formal living room with detailed millwork around the fireplace and floor-to-ceiling bookcase, there’s a cosy family room and conservatory, built in 2007, that takes in views of the outdoor deck and gazebo, pool, hot tub, ocean, mountains and, yes, sunsets, beyond.

The main floor primary bedroom features his and hers bathrooms, including a two-person jetted tub, large walk-in steam shower and dual closets. “It’s massive,” says Conyers. “It feels like you could fit three bedrooms in there. It has a fireplace and two accesses to the backyard — one that goes out directly to the hot tub and another that goes out to the garden/pool area.”

Six skylights infuse light throughout the house, and in-floor radiant heat adds warmth. “There’s a commercial hot water tank that holds at least 120 gallons and a boiler system to manage the hot water heat through the floors,” says Conyers.

Downstairs there’s a separate space that could be used as either an in-law or nanny suite with full kitchen, laundry, large bedroom, three-piece bath, and fireplace in the main living area. It has its own access to the outside and private grotto-type garden patio.

The garage can accommodate four cars with its deep middle section. “It also has a big storage room and a wash basin that would make a great dog bath area,” says Conyers.

“The owners maintain this house meticulously,” she says. “If there’s ever an issue it’s dealt with right away. Even the carpet is original and it looks brand new. There is not a crack or a leak; the sinks in the bathrooms look like no one’s ever used them. I’ve never seen a house this age in such good condition. It looks and works as if it’s brand new (but) you couldn’t build this house today for $6.4 million, with the acreage and dock. It would cost twice that much.”

At least the sunsets are free.

In the neighbourhood

There are several schools, including preschool, elementary and secondary, within driving distance, as well as a recreation centre, restaurants, grocery stores, pubs and shops in Ocean Park, five minutes away. White Rock, with even more amenities, is a 10-minute drive away.

Crescent Beach is a short drive in one direction, and the Historic Stewart Farm, which had, at its peak over a century ago, over 440 acres of farm and fields, is even closer in the other direction. The nine-hole Nico-Wynd Golf Course, three minutes away, is a fine way to while away an afternoon.

A 15-minute drive takes you to forested trails, including the historic Semiahmoo Trail, that meander near Anderson Creek and the Nicomekl River.

Location:13375 Crescent Road, Surrey

Listed for: $6,400,000

Year built: 2000

Type: Five bedrooms, eight bathrooms

Size: 8,526 square feet

Realtor: Listed by Karen Conyers, Conyers & Associates, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

Stay up to date on Canada’s best mortgage rates with our guide to the lowest national insured and uninsured mortgage rates, updated daily.Related

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