Li's Blog: December 2010

Denman Island acreage, new home, superlative workshop space...a wow!


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A dream awaits you! 12 acres of sunny tranquility and privacy, just for you, on serene Denman Island. The property enjoys some forest areas, plus easy care and creative landscaping around the home. South/southwest/west exposures ensure year round/all day sun, and extensive patio areas expand summer living pleasures.

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Fronting on a marsh, a bird sanctuary, the "lake" here allows for canoeing the bends in the marsh...a very pleasing past-time!

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The home is new, and you have time to choose finishes, here! Radiant infloor heat, custom bathroom fixtures (you'll love the shower and the tub in the master ensuite!), open plan kitchen/dining (top of the line appliances), custom built-in cabinetry for storage, pantry, dramatic living with vaulted ceiling, stairs from the formal entry/foyer to the master "suite", and stairs from the family room to the children's "wing". A climbing wall feature from the family room, plus a terrific work-out exercise space.

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Easy access to the patio areas/barbecue space, from all principal rooms. This home could be featured in Dwell Magazine, and offers that clean-lined simplicity of the best of "west coast contemporary" Zen/Scandanavian influenced design. European windows, doors, everything chosen of very fine quality. The final finishing choices can be yours!

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The plus? There is an amazing "shop" on the property, separately sited from the home. It holds a state of the art fully computerized woodworking business, at the moment. If desired, a buyer could offer on the equipment as well.

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The owner is a custom cabinet designer/creator, and his work is found in the very best homes on the Lower Mainland/in Whistler. He is able to work from home, on Denman. This space has to be seen to be appreciated...the word "shop" does not describe it, at all.


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Another plus? A short stroll brings you to a terrific walk-on beach, warm ocean swimming, and you're just minutes by car to the Hornby Island ferry or to the ferry from Denman Island back to Buckley Bay, on Vancouver Island. It's only a ten minute ferry trip!

Close to skiing at Mt. Washington, to shopping and all services in Courtenay/Comox, and a short drive to Qualicum Beach and to Nanaimo, too

Very nicely located, with the allure of that Gulf Islands "safe haven" aspect to investment. The Islands Trust has capped growth on all of the Gulf Islands, and they are basically "preserved" for the benefit of all B.C. residents. (Ask me about this aspect of investment on a Gulf Island).

This is a magical property, with a new home that allows you to choose some final finishing features, and is "state of the art" in design and choices.

Don't miss this beauty!

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

0 commentsLi Read • December 30 2010 02:41PM

Oceanview, charming cottage, acreage...& on Salt Spring! Wow!


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Looking for a retreat cottage/home?   On almost five acres?    With a superb panoramic view of ocean, islands, and Lower Mainland mountains!   

Close to town, and to all services/amenities, this private and quiet and sunny property is the perfect place for summer/weekending fun, now, and build your dream home later!


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Out of province owners sadly must sell...listed at tax assessed value, this gem is definitely a "best buy" opportunity on special Salt Spring Island.

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Would be a good rental, too, if income is desired.

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Call me, and let's go view this one, soon!

www.liread.com

liread33@gmail.com

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

0 commentsLi Read • December 29 2010 06:05PM

Great retreat cottage home on Salt Spring Island...across from the beach!

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Here's the view from a sweetheart of an "almost oceanfront" cottage...totally renovated, this one bedroom retreat gem awaits your pleasure!

Across a very quiet country road from the ocean, enjoy the seasonal moorage option and also the terrific walk-on beach...a beachcomber's treasure!

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Open plan living/dining/kitchen, feature stone fireplace, sliders out to expansive oceanview decking...expand those summer living pleasures!    One bedroom, bathroom with claw foot tub, laundry.

Rear garden offers a workshop/studio space, and fenced yard...a sunny space!

Private, on Salt Spring's tranquil and temperate "east side", this gem is close to all amenities yet offers a truly rural experience.

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The perfect summer /weekender awaits you....

www.liread.com

 

 

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

0 commentsLi Read • December 29 2010 01:37PM

Ready to move into and to enjoy...seaside home, on Salt Spring Island!

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Ah...a home by the seaside....

And, one with its own dock...keep your boat at home!

This home offers entry level main floor, with formal entry/foyer, leading to an oceanside living room, stone fireplace, elegant dining, and a very nice entertainment sized solarium.    Easy access to the sunsplashed decking from all principal rooms! 

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Country kitchen, with breakfast area, plus separate laundry and "office".   Powder room for guests, too.   The master "suite" enjoys oceanview bedroom, custom bathroom with access to private deck area and your own hot-tub, plus a sitting room for cosy winter evenings!

Lower garden level offers two guest bedrooms, bathroom, recreational/games room, large workshop (home occupation?   artist?), plus a separate guest/inlaw suite (would suit a nanny, too). 

There's a beachside cabana structure at the dock level, to expand summer living pleasures...children would love this as a "camp out" space!

Walk on beach, plus deep water dock...very rare!

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Sunny (s/sw/w exposures...sunsets, here), plus located in one of Salt Spring's premier address areas!

Aging owner is motivated to sell...a perfect family home, or great for a professional couple working from home.   Also offers B & B opportunity!

Call me!

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

0 commentsLi Read • December 29 2010 01:24PM

Looking for a private vineyard? Here's one!

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Thinking of a new "hobby"?    Here's one that might appeal...own your own vineyard!

This sweetheart is on Salt Spring Island, in the midst of the "vineyard region"...apparently it's a lot like the Loire Valley in France, and similar grape varieties grow here, very happily.    This particular vineyard is planted in two red wine grape varieties from Switzerland.   

The stylish renovated home offers three bed/two bath, plus open plan living/dining, cook's kitchen, and office.   The plus?   Self-contained garden level suite (could easily be brought back into the main home, or do a B & B business here...good guest/inlaw option, also).    Further plus?    A self-contained studio on the property, too.

Fully fenced, close to park and lakes and ocean beaches, very sunny (e/s/w exposures, here), and in its own rural world....ready to just move into and to enjoy.

Call me!

www.liread.com

liread33@gmail.com

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

0 commentsLi Read • December 27 2010 01:58PM

New Year's is acoming, as all good Scots know!

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Lots of different seasonal traditions out there...often, it's great to "borrow" from others.   I like to do the French Reveillon on Christmas Eve, and I think to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas, such as in England and in Germany, putting the tree up on Christmas Eve and taking it down on January 6th, Twelfth Night, would be fun, too.

However, I have that Scottish Background thing, and so that means New Year's.    Google Hogmanay, and you'll discover some of these Celtic traditions.

All the green of Christmas has to be out of the house by the 31st (that's "old year stuff"), the house has to be cleaned, food on the table, friends invited (don't forget to get the "first foot" organized ahead of time...a dark man, bearing a gift for the house...blondes can't be the first person across the threshold just after midnight on the Eve)...and on it goes.

I kind of liked the Spanish custom of trying to eat all twelve grapes (at one's place setting, in a special paper "funnel"), before the last stroke of midnight....if you eat six, then it's six lucky months that year!    Meantime, though, I've got the brunette man lined up to bring in the china tea cup, the gift for the house, and am ready to welcome the new....with some Scottish music, too, of course!

Auld Lang Syne is from Scotland's famed poet, Robbie Burns, after all!

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

2 commentsLi Read • December 27 2010 01:18PM

Boxing Day...a time to enjoy visiting friends...not all about store sales!


Winter Scene


This is Boxing Day, in Canada...something from the English tradition at Christmas Time. It's a time to go out and to visit, with friends and family, and also to celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, in the Christian Calendar. The carol Good King Wencelas celebrates this day.

There are always Boxing Day Sales in our region, of course!

With Christmas falling on a Saturday this year, and Boxing Day on a Sunday, this delivers for many business people a lovely extended weekend, a holiday moment to further celebrate with one's friends and family, and to extend the cheer to those on their own. It is a time of feasting and "expansiveness", full of light and bright.

Did you remember to read Dylan Thomas' classic, A Child's Christmas in Wales?

Enjoy!

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

10 commentsLi Read • December 26 2010 01:57PM

Christmas Eve is here.....


Scenic Gulf Island photo

Here it is, Christmas Eve...many people are caught up in the travelling web, in cars, on trains, on planes, on boats...all seeking to "be home", with friends and family, for this lovely season....

So many traditions, the ones that knit and bind us all together...often only visible at such times as this.

In Canada, with the blend of English and French traditions, I will be enjoying a Buche de Noel at midnight's Reveillon, and also enjoying the Twelve Days of Christmas from the English tradition (Christmas Tree goes up on Christmas Eve and comes down on Twelfth Night, January 6th).

Wherever you are, and whatever  your holiday tradition, best wishes...enjoy this season of gratitude and feasting, with your family and friends, and all those new people, who are on their own, that you are including in your festive moments.....

 

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

11 commentsLi Read • December 24 2010 12:22PM

Snowy scene...a Christmas feel....

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We don't all enjoy a White Christmas, but it's an archtypal image that does live in our minds, I think.

Perhaps it's about the pause that a snowy day delivers to us?   Sound is muffled, there is a cocooning effect as the sharp outlines of grass and tree and field are obliterated, as houses softly mantled swim into the gloom.

Whether one is in the desert, or in a rainy "wet coast" experience, or in a truly snow filled dream, the "pause moment", the gathering at the Solstice time, the darkest days of the year, with family and friends, the lighting of candles and fires in the hearth (even the Yule Log version on cable t.v.), special foods that bring memories along for the ride...it's a time of celebration, of gratitude, of sharing with others...all good messages as we go forward into the next decade of the "real" 21st Century.

Wishing all my Active Rain compatriots a joyous and peaceful Season!

 

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

6 commentsLi Read • December 23 2010 12:55PM

Summer days imagining....

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This is a summer dream for many people...whether it's on the ocean, or on a lake, or on a river bank is not important...it's that "ah" moment of arrival, after a long winter, where the cabin is exactly the way it was left at the end of the last season, and where it's just a quick canoe or kayak voyage to neighbours, and where the dock is waiting for that run and cannonball jump into the welcoming summer water....

On the coldest and darkest of winter days, at this Solstice time, it's good to remember summer fun, summer ease, summer pleasure...summer is a state of mind, after all, and one can catch, via the passport of imagination, the summer vibe any time/any weather, and "be there".

And your summer dream is?

 

 

 

How may I help you to discover special Salt Spring Island & the Southern Gulf Islands?   Call me!

0 commentsLi Read • December 22 2010 03:35PM