Swampscott offering tours of luxury condo

SWAMPSCOTT – Imagine a place where you could pick up, touch and feel every luxury designer item from the pages of your favorite home decor magazine and ask the designers any questions you want.Barry Turkanis and Bruce Paradise bring that experience to locals as Swampscott?s newest condominium complex, the Concordia, was selected to be “Boston Magazine?s” 2013 Dream Home. Beginning Sept. 12, decor enthusiasts can pay $25 to walk through a $2.5 million unit, fully furnished and decorated to the height of luxury, with all proceeds benefitting Boston Children?s Hospital.Christina Tessie Miller, the business development director of “Boston Magazine” who led a press preview tour on Wednesday afternoon, said the 3,600-square foot condo is intended to look “like the owners had just stepped out and went to the grocery store,” complete with dog bowls in the corners and clothes in the three walk-in closets.Miller said designers collaborated to create a “relaxing retreat,” and used the ocean views as inspiration for the color scheme.Miller said the unit, with three bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths, was designed in mind for North Shore tenants who are looking to downsize and entertain. The features include large windows with ocean views stretching toward the Boston skyline and Nahant, a state-of-the-art sound system, a study, reading room, fully applianced kitchen, and entertainment center with a built-in mini fridge.The master suite with two separate his-and-her bathrooms, each with adjoining walk-in closets, brought a gasp from designer Megan Meyers. “This is a marriage-saver,” she said of the separate bathrooms.Whether the motive is to purchase one of the four remaining units, shop around for designer goods or simply to gawk in awe at interior design prowess, tours will be continuing for 20 days after Sept. 12, excluding Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and a Jewish holiday on Sept. 14. After the last tour, the decor will be taken out of the unit.Participants will receive a goodie bag upon exiting with coupons and a buyer?s guide featuring the products and designers, of whom 75 percent are located on the North Shore.Turkanis said the Concordia not only exceeded his and Paradise?s expectations, but he was happy to hear many who had been naysayers reverse their opinions of the project. “It looks like it?s been there for years,” he said of the building and its location on Humphrey Street. “That?s what we wanted – for it to fit in with the architectural sphere of Swampscott.”