Little House on the Island

Big Week!

September 4, 2017 — Leave a comment

Selling the House/Journalizing the Build

August 24 to September 2, 2017

This was a big week! A week of beginnings and a week of endings.

On Thursday August 25th (after a year or more of renos, packing and staging) we put the house on the market.  We had our first showing on Friday and an offer to purchase on Saturday which we accepted. By Sept 1, all the conditions were met, waived by the buyer and the sale finalized. We certainly did not expect to sell so quickly but are delighted that we did!

The house was purchased by a family with two boys under 6.  I’m so glad our home went to a young family who will hopefully bring with them as much love and happiness as we had during our time in the house on Maple Wood Crescent.

I understand the new family fell in love with the house. The couple’s mother who also visited the house was immediately drawn to my workroom upstairs. I guess she also has a small jewelry business. Apparently she and I met at one of the MacKenzie Art Gallery sales which we both attended as vendors. Small world!

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Excavation Begins!

Also on August 24th excavation began on the new house. Our builder has been sending us updates which I will try to share once a week.

There was a lot of fill on the property as it was being used as a dump site by other home builders in the subdivision. Our builder is very enterprising as he put the word out that free fill could be had to those who would be willing to pick it up. It worked! The fill was gone over a few days to other construction sites in the area. With little cost to us. Good job Dan!

 

Once the extra fill was removed the surveyors could come in and actual excavation for the house could begin. When we hit rock (a seam near the back of the lot) blasting techs were brought in to determine how much blasting will be required and of course the cost. The rock is quite shale like and they expect there will be no problems so here’s hoping!

The back wall in the small courtyard area will need a retaining wall but I am hoping that if there is enough natural rock there (and if it structurally sound) it can be used as a wall instead of using concrete. We’ll know more over the next week or so.

It’s all happening pretty fast. The next few weeks will be all about arranging for movers, packing and saying goodbye to the family home we’ve lived in for the past 25 years.

Animated Walk-Thru

June 10, 2017 — Leave a comment

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Posted by Wanda

We are finally done with the design so I have uploaded two final walk-thru animations showing the upper and lower level. The start date for the build is still August but it’s good to be done with the design phase.

 

Upper level animated walk-thru

Lower Level animated walk-thru

 

 

The Final Design

May 7, 2017 — Leave a comment

The design is finally coming together after months of emails, phone calls and a few meetings with the designer and builder.  Most of the bugs that needed to be ironed out were around ensuring compliance with the new earthquake codes.  We are pretty happy with the end result.

The next step – the designer will take it to working plans. At this point in time we are looking at starting the build in August with an anticipated move-in date sometime in February. It’s so good that it’s all starting to come together!

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Upper Level Floor Plan

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Lower Level Floor Plan

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Heading for the Island!

March 26, 2017 — 7 Comments

Posted by Wanda

Jim and I are flying out next Wednesday (March 29th) to Vancouver Island to meet with the builder and the designer. We have been working with the designer (long distance, via email) and we believe we are getting pretty close to nailing down the final design. I bought this amazing design software (which Kyla found online, thanks Kyla!) and have been able to send them fairly detailed and accurate plan ideas. I do however rely on the designer and builder to ensure they meet code, the island is in an earthquake zone so they have stringent building requirements.

Here’s what we have come up with so far. Included with the floor plan are just a few 3D screenshots, and yes I know there is no ceiling on them :).

 

Upstairs Floor plan.
Living dining area (front of house)
Sunroom off the master bedroom.
Master bedroom.
View of sunroom from master bedroom door.
Kitchen with pantry (sliding door, left wall).
Laundry room.

A Walk Around the New Neighbourhood

March 22, 2017 — Leave a comment

Posted by Wanda

Our new neighbourhood in Chemainus is filling in fast and I believe we may be one of the last to build.  The tentative start date is coming up fast (July 2017). We are flying out in April for two weeks to tie off the loose ends with the builder and the designer. It’s all pretty exciting!

Our good friends and soon to be neighbours Carl and Janine have been keeping us up to date with pictures of the changing landscape of the neighbourhood. (Thanks guys!) I have put a few of their photos together which best illustrates this transition. It’s interesting to see the progression and yes – there was snow!  More snow than the island has seen for quite a few years.  Oh well, I understand they needed the moisture so that’s okay, and it was very pretty too!

Looking north from the back of our lot
House two doors down east of our lot.
House two doors down from our lot.
Neighbour’s home to the west of our lot. For sale if anyone is interested? MLS 420809
Our neighbour’s home east of our property
Winter scene at Carl & Janine’s
Nice house around the corner of our street. View from Carl & Janine’s deck.
Winter view from the back of our lot.
Street view (with the bump, which is our lot)
Walls going up two house east of our lot.
Neighbours to the west to our lot (the bump)
View of Stuart Channel from our lot.
Another home in the neighbour, similar to the one we are building.
Snowy day in Kinsmen Park Chemainus
Snowy day in Kinsmen park Chemainus
Two houses to the east of our lot.

 

Google street view Orca View Terrace, Chemainus BC

House plans & Walk thru

February 28, 2017 — Leave a comment

Posted by Wanda

We are starting to work with the builder and the designer to finalize plans for the new house.  We are working toward a potential start date of July 2017.   It’s all pretty exciting and kind of scary as we have never lived any place but Regina Sask!

Below is a Youtube link to an animated walk thru of the plans which Wanda put together using Home Design Suite Software (thanks for the tip Kyla!)

Animated walk thru upper level – Orca View

Animated walk thru lower level – Orca View

I have also uploaded some preliminary plans which we are still fine tuning.

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Upper level floor plan

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Lower level floor plan

Vancouver Island BC Canada

“BC Landowners”

August 13, 2016 — 1 Comment

Posted by Wanda and Jim

Vancouver Island BC Canada

Vancouver Island BC Canada – Bad Habits Cafe

We are BC Landowners!

The paperwork is done and it’s now official, we are the owners of a beautiful piece of property in Chemainus BC!  We are one step closer to realizing our dream of moving to Vancouver island.

The Lot (click for more)

Thanks to Carl and Janine for all your help, guidance and patience 🙂 over the past few years. You are both amazing friends!

Thanks also to Eric and Cory for their ongoing support, (the couple we most want to be like when we grow up!)

Thanks also goes out to our son John (Fraser). It’s nice to have a Real Estate professional in the family, we are so proud of you!

Thanks also to Linda (Vavra) for your help and support, your the one who turned us on to the island in the first place, your an amazing ambassador! (but, now you can tone it down a notch as we don’t want everyone in on our secret paradise!) 🙂

And now the hard work of building, packing, selling and moving begins!

The House (click for more)

Going Coastal (click for more)

“One step closer”

July 29, 2016 — 3 Comments

Posted by Wanda and Jim

We finalized the Offer to Purchase on the lot in Chemainus today. It’s a done deal, now we just need to finish the paperwork which is a little more challenging as we are completing this transaction out-of-province. While we are looking at a year or more time line we are still one step closer to making Vancouver Island our home. Exciting and scary at the same time!

Now to get to work on getting our house ready for sale in Regina. Besides a general clean up we have a few more big jobs: windows, painting and flooring upstairs. We are also continuing the purge, it’s amazing how much stuff one accumulates over the years!

“Going Coastal”

July 17, 2016 — Leave a comment

Posted by Wanda

Buying a new home is the first step, making it your home is the second. As a result of spending quite a bit of time on the coast I have fallen in love with its easy-going lifestyle. I enjoy seeing the coastal beauty of everyday life here, and of course in a breezy coastal seaside town that means nautical!

I love the laid-back Beachhouse coastal look with its crisp clean whites punctuated with the colour of sand, ocean blues and beachcomber accessories but I am also drawn to the Classic Coastal look. This look also starts with a clean white pallet, then is accessorized with nautical navy and reds. The key to decorating Classic Coastal is adopting a less is more attitude and a more formal look, mixing stripes with a few well-chosen nautical prints. I believe we will likely use elements of each as both successfully borrow the beautiful ocean views and blend them into a coastal inspired living space that brings the outside in like a breath of fresh ocean air.

I will be posting our decorating ideas in an “Idea Book” as we go along. I am sure they will continually change as we get closer to the actual finishing of the home but it’s always fun to dream!

Click on the picture below to open the book.

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“The House”

July 16, 2016 — Leave a comment

Posted by Wanda and Jim

We just spent a considerable amount of time looking into the type of house we would like to build on a lot on Vancouver Island. We came up with a very high level plan which would probably work well on this property. We are hoping to keep the square footage down to below 2500 square ft. and we would like to have a main floor level entry from the garage on the upper level of the lot. Here’s what we came up with.

Coming from “flat land” Saskatchewan we do however worry about living on a sloped lot, but having a sweeping view of the ocean (Stuart Channel) makes it a compromise I believe we could probably live with.

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We also would like to build a suite with kitchenette in the lower level to accommodate all the visitors we hope to be getting from Saskatchewan, Alberta and beyond. 🙂 Yes, and what a great holiday for our family and friends! We will supply the accommodations and a car for you to explore the Island, what a great deal! (More about that later, you might notice it becoming a bit of a reoccurring theme in our future postings!)

“The bump”

July 14, 2016 — Leave a comment

Posted by Wanda/Jim

We just came back from the island after spending 12 days in and around the Chemainus and Nanaimo area. We were shocked by how real estate sales on the island seem to be booming. The real estate agents are calling it a “bump” As we drove around the island all the “For Sale” signs we saw during our last visit had little sold signs attached to them! Before we left Regina I thought something was going on as I noticed some of the prices rising but had no idea how quickly both land and houses were selling. After much discussion we decided to buy a piece of land to get a foothold into the market. The window was closing fast on the availability of properties so we decided to act. We are now negotiating on a property in Chemainus on Orca View Terrace. The last ocean view in our price range!

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