Li's Blog: February 2012

Beautiful Homes by a Salt Spring top builder! Plus a rare rural acreage for them to create your dream!


1. Panoramic ocean view, sunny private acreage, in one of Salt Spring's prime areas (Pringle Farm), with superbly designed and custom built, light-filled residence.


This fine home displays an exemplary blend of function and style, with many special features, both interior and exterior, to promote ease of living and enjoyment. Attention is paid to ensuring high quality in finishing, appliances, and sustainable eco-friendly building materials.


Perfect for family living and entertaining, this beautiful home exudes a sense of warmth and welcoming natural luxury. Make this a "must see" in your search for your Gulf Islands dream property!

2. Forested, pastoral, private acreage with custom design home, quality built and outfitted.


Energy efficiency features, extensive decking with outdoor kitchen, landscaping with pond, wrap-around drive, cathedral ceilings, pocket views of the ocean, zoning allowing additional accessory and agricultural buildings.


The fine home is complemented by a 600 sq.ft. well appointed and fully serviced guest cottage.


Land and residence are appealing and offer several options for enjoying a Gulf Islands lifestyle - perfect for family and entertaining, opportunity for "hobby-farm" agricultural pursuits, a B&B, and certainly relaxing.

This one is a "must see" in your search for a Salt Spring dream property!

3. Six+ magical acres, pastoral ambiance, adjacent to huge swath of park reserve (hiking/walking trails galore, here!), and with excellent all day sun exposure and the allure of dramatic sunsets, too.


Zoned for main home, separate guest cottage, and upto 5000 sq. ft. barn, plus multiple agricultural accessory buildings. Property's arable land would also allow for gardens and one could happily keep some sheep!


In an area of fine homes, this beautiful development opportunity also enjoys privacy and a sense of calm.

The driveway into the property is off the end of Pringle Farm Road, and so the property itself is not visible from the road. On community water.

Bring your architect, and let's walk this beauty soon.

Looking for your next adventure? Here it is!


Superlative opportunity!   In the heart of the Fulford Valley/Burgoyne Valley, with excellent sun exposures and dramatic valley, mountain, and ocean viewscapes...a short stroll to beach and to miles of riding and walking/hiking trails...this land is superb.  


The gift?   This ten acres is the home of renowned Garry Oak Vineyard...award-winning wines, often showcased at Hastings House and other luxury venues, and featured in fine dining establishments.  


The home is a custom architect designed gem (Osborne & Clark, from Vancouver...famed for their country ethic)...you will be immediately eased into the Salt Spring lifestyle as you enjoy this stellar property.   


The Fulford Valley/Burgoyne Valley are at the same latitude as the Loire Valley in France.    The micro-climate enjoyed by Salt Spring Island is known as "cool Mediterranean".    


Salt Spring features as an artistic haven, with painters, writers, musicians, fabric artists, potters, sculptors, actors, dancers all calling this Island beauty "home".    The slow food movement is also alive and well on amazing Salt Spring Island: a sustainable farm ethic is a part of the Island culture.    Farmers markets are an almost year round feature of our temperate climate zone.  


The Island also offers all services/amenities required in our 21st Century lives, and yet also enjoys that wonderful sense of being "apart".    Close to major centres (Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle), and with a year round lifestyle...easy to do daytrips to other regions, and yet not necessary to leave the Island unless one wishes to.    Hospital, three elementary schools, a middle and a state of the art senior school, seniors activities, a growing digital network of the tech culture, the voice of the artist well represented, a sense of sanctuary without being isolated...it is a premier location for either a seasonal or a year round experience.

The Garry Oak Vineyard acreage offers an alluring retirement opportunity...be the hands on person you've always dreamed of being, or retain the qualified helpers in the vineyard.   Charming cottage home for these accomplished helpers...plus auxiliary buildings dedicated to the wine-making. 

 

Always dreamed of France or Italy?    Here's the delectable reality to that dream...the stability and the innovative and the creative Canadian lifestyle awaits your pleasure on very special Salt Spring Island!

Here is your dramatic and warm hued home, with exceptional views to rest the soul...here is the detached garage for your classic cars...here is the privacy and the calm that enfolds one...here is the interest to pique one's mind, to open a door to a creative experience...call me, and let's view this gem together, very soon.   

Please, do not disturb owners or vineyard staff...appointments to view are essential.    24 hour notice requested.

Here is your future....

Gulf Islands Gems...dreams to consider:


1) Stroll your private beach...warm ocean swimming here...expansive views, dramatic sunsets. Appealing country home...orchard, flower & veggie gardens...pastoral charms. Ahh...peace that restores. Welcome to Thetis Island!


2) Create your dream on Pender Island...sunny Browning Harbour vistas, swimming beach, privacy...walk to shops...quiet area of fine homes. Best buy oceanfront opportunity!


3) Oceanfront point on tranquil Thetis Island...deepwater dock plus gentle crushed shell cove...great swimming, here! Stylish modern ethic in the authentic West Coast Contemporary design format. Master wing, guest wing...Zen inspired living...just move in & call this sunny & private beauty "home".


4) Private Island treasure...just off Canoe Cove. 170 foot dock, home, studio, terrific boatyard outbuildings...a WOW...let's go view! Johnstone Island is connected to mainland power, too.


5) North Trail Island, 33 acres of pleasure just off Sechelt...arrive easily from Vancouver. Pasture, outbuildings, keep horses or sheep, orchard, forest privacy with walking trails...gazebo with a view forever! Bays, coves...views, views, views! Main home plus caretaker's cottage. Here's your next adventure!


6) Stunning Kolb Island, just off Canoe Cove, connected to mainland power & water...so appealing main home, gracious guest cottage, forest trails, studio, outbuildings...coves...sunny privacy awaits your pleasure! Two docks...deepwater...power & water to both...large vessels welcome!


7) Pym Island...style in the heart of the best protected boating waters in the world! 5 acres of privacy, a dramatic main home, four guest cottages, caretaker's residence...expansive dock, gazebo, wonderful views, sunrises & sunsets...beaches, tennis, "lake", indoor pool, walking trails...a WOW experience. A true estate property!


8) Saturna Island beauty...an 11 acre oceanfront point, two homes, guest cottage, beach and deepwater dock, tennis...barn, outbuildings, pond, pasture...orchard! So lovely...when one imagines a Gulf Island retreat, this is the dream...ready for you to slide into it, and to call it "home". Call me!

More ideas? I look forward to introducing you to your special Gulf Island beauty...looking forward to your call. How may I help you to buy your Gulf Island property?

liread33@gmail.com

February 24, 2012.

The annual Galiano Literary Festival begins today & goes through to Sunday. A much awaited event, and with a stellar line-up of writers. Well done, Galiano Books, for your stellar support of this much awaited annual event!

Salt Spring's Velo Village event will see a bicycle only ferry on June 23rd. Looking to be involved/get more info? Call the Island Pathways group, & see how you can help create a successful event.

Three cheers to the Salt Spring Island Farmers Institute & their creative idea for a Granville Island style year-round indoor farmers market on the Ganges Firehall site.

March 2 to 4, at GISS, enjoy the stellar line-up at this year's (13th!!) annual Salt Spring Documentary Film Festival. Opening night gala on the 2nd. Don't miss this...and thank you to all of the volunteers who make this a much anticipated event!

This Monday, the 27th, the place to be is Fulford Hall for Salt Spring Folk Club's presentation of Jim Byrnes and the Sojourners...doors open at 6:15 for season ticket holders, and show begins at 7 p.m. Don't miss this one!

Mad as a Hatter Productions presents 'night, Mother, directed by Nadine Wright, & starring Victoria Mihalyi & Christina Penhale...at Mahon Hall, with opening night on March 2, at 8 p.m. More performances on: March 3, 9, 10 plus a special 5 p.m. performance on March 4th. See you there!

Salt Spring Forum presents Words Without Borders, a SSI literary festival...on Island? Check out this first annual event. Call ArtSpring for details...opens this evening.

Salt Spring Island Gallery of Fine Art, on McPhillips Avenue, is showcasing the plexiglass art of Lloyd Nicholson...Furnished With Love. Show runs till Feb 29th (open on Sunday, 26th, too). Talented! Don't miss this....

Treehouse Cafe live music: tonight it's Dan Howlett & tomorrow catch live Sitar with Phil. Salt Spring Inn features The Pinkertons at 6 p.m., Saturday. Tonight, enjoy Alvaro Sanchez at Harbour House Hotel (6 p.m.), and Lloyd English & Ian van Wyck on Saturday, at 6 p.m. Tonight, at Moby's, at 9 p.m., it's the rocking good time with the Barefoot Thieves. Saturday, Moby's presents Dan Snakehead & Reverend Jim, at 9 p.m. The fundraiser for the SS Therapeutic Riding Association takes place Saturday, at Fulford Hall, at 8 p.m. -- dance up a storm with the Fabulous Flakes! Sunday, enjoy Diana English at Harbour House Hotel, 6 p.m. Sunday night jazz, with Derek Milton & the El Zocalo Band, takes place at Raven Street Market Cafe, at 6:30 p.m. Wow...lucky Islanders...live music & talent talent talent!

Yes, I heard the weather forecast for the weekend...temps dropping & suggestions of snow flurries. Take it easy...get out & about. March is almost here, the days get steadily longer, and the slow evolving into "real Spring" is underway. Enjoy!

As we segue towards the close of February, those of us who live on the famously "wet coast", in the great Pacific Northwest, dream of summer...the grey days, continuing rain squalls, pineapple express winds & storms mixed in with the occasional Arctic Front (which reminds us of what the rest of the country has to put up with!), they all conspire to make us focus on the summer season...it gives us all heart!

What to do at this time of year?   Helps to wander the art galleries in town, full of image and colour and flair...be inspired.    The live music venues energize, too...so many talented musicians call this Island "home".

Walking in the splendour of our natural world also uplifts...clean air, dramatic vistas, bursts of sun to remind us that the grey period is almost over...longer days, too, as we begin the slow dance to the June festival of the longest day of the year. 

We are a northern people, even if we do enjoy an amazing micro-climate, on this thin strip of coastal territory...we understand the value of light, itself.

So, put the dog on the leash, bundle up, boots and slicker, and saunter the beach...ahh, that ocean air.  

And yes, summer is a'comin!

Looking for land that is arable, with the opportunity to become self-sufficient? Good sun, privacy, land that grows veggies & supports an orchard?

Here are some possibilities...call me, & let's go view! Time to develop your dream...to create your space out of all this global confusion, and to enjoy your life.


Here's a small holding, ready for your development ideas: with access to both Lang's Road and Howard Road, & just steps from St Mary's Lake, this is the authentic "diamond in the rough". Have you got your polishing cloth ready?


What about this 25 acre parcel, with barn structure, retreat cabin, large swimming pond? Some Harbour views to tempt you, and a superb "south end" location! Bring your architect, & let's go view....


In the heart of the Fulford Valley, here's 10 acres of rural charm, about half in pasture (hay crop possible) & half in forest, and a short stroll to the ocean through pastoral Burgoyne Valley Park Reserve.


Almost 5 acres, with ocean view & close to lovely beach, also awaits your development ideas...on a sunny ridge, offering sunrises & sunsets, & close to Ganges Village amenities. Zoned for main home, separate guest cottage, separate studio. Private space!

More ideas? Call me! How may I help you to buy your rural Island treasure?

liread33@gmail.com

Blue Sky Architecture is a dramatic and accomplished firm, with several unique properties on various Gulf Islands & other coastal locales.


This gem just happens to be on special Salt Spring Island...on 26 pristine acres, enjoying privacy and a natural coastal environment...Fir, Cedar, Hemlock, Maple, Alder...Arbutus.


A WOW view...a 270 span of ocean, islands, mountains! On a clear day one really can see forever...and this includes the Lower Mainland mountains, Mt Baker, Mt Rainier, and a whisper of the Olympics. Beauty everywhere!


The home lives up to and surpasses the unique property. The very best of the heritage of Frank Lloyd Wright's contemporary ethic is found here.


Custom window treatments that blur the line between interior and exterior, cherry wood and stone floors (radiant infloor heat), dramatic stone fireplace in entertainment living room, superb kitchen, pantry off, dining with a view to mesmerize one...a window wall that opens to the expansive view patio and summer kitchen (pizza oven!)...an entry foyer to dazzle the senses and invite one into calm. Custom built-ins!

A master wing off the foyer with office, spacious laundry, amazing master bedroom, designer bathroom...patio off with hot tub.

Guest wing beyond dining, with full bath...stone accents! And that view...another direction, another vista of forever!

Lower garden level is discovered via custom staircase...you will be pleased! Two guest bedrooms, full bath, craft/storage room (could be a fifth bedroom, if desired), plus family/media room. Access out to rock garden, here.

Architect designed double carport with workshop/studio off. Terrific site for guest cottage...create your dream.

Private hiking/walking trails, ponds, easy care "natural" landscaping...a majestic property on the jewel of the Canadian Gulf Islands.

An international property awaits your pleasure....

Ask for the key to your next adventure!

liread33@gmail.com

Salt Spring Island has many people who call the Island "home", who are also out there doing and creating...often after a previous career...Boomers take note?   Always a door through to another room, one waiting to be discovered!   And your dream is?   Meantime, some paths:

Well done, Grant Wickland! At a different point in time, Grant built many docks on the Island. Now he creates beautiful banjos and guitars...yes, that's Grant at the Saturday Market in the Park. Grant has been invited to attend the Montreal guitar festival, on Canada Day, to showcase his amazing instruments.

Excellent, Lisa Sliwowska...to have successfully created a project that you dreamed about many years ago is inspirational for those around you! Your Figs & Honey enterprise is exceptional...your beauty therapy & healing arts business offers a needed service on the Island & beyond. Locals can find your product at Off The Water co-operative gallery (adjacent to post office) or at your spa.

Wow, Deb Leblanc, of DebFit fame...well done you. Your studio at the edge of Ganges Village offers many streams of fitness, and always with your individual care & attention. If anyone is looking to renew the physical, with a tailored regimen just for you, contact Deb...individual and class work-outs.

There are so many talented and inspiring people who call Salt Spring "home"...lucky Islanders that the above three are here!

Your recommended list is welcome, always!

liread33@gmail.com

Was interested to read that the Canadian Federal Government is concerned at the drop in tourism across Canada...the government is going to be seeking ways to address this, as tourism is a huge revenue producer.

In the past three to four years, locally, Salt Spring businesses noted a significant drop in tourism, too. The Chamber of Commerce's tourist info centre tracked this, and there was anecdotal evidence from the Market in the Park vendors, the accomodations group, the studio oriented artists, plus small businesses of all descriptions.

The renewed Chamber of Commerce is bringing forward several initiatives to encourage visitors to choose Salt Spring Island...check out these proposed events!

Looking to get involved in the community? There are many worthy options to choose from, and volunteers are essential to our community's fabric.

You might consider volunteering for a committee to help create a successful event, on behalf of the Chamber.

Ambassadors for the Island are needed!

Easter Arts Tour coming up! Sip & Savour in the planning stages...your event ideas? Welcomed!

More info? Call me!

liread33@gmail.com

Did you know?

The only venue for advertising real estate listings, on Salt Spring, is a supplement, placed in the weekly community newspaper, 7 issues a year.

The current supplement has been "out" from early December and will be replaced on February 28th.

A realtor can also advertise via display ads in the weekly newspaper.

There is no local t.v. station, here (of course, we pick up the Victoria & Vancouver stations, and get cable/satellite options). There is a community radio station, but it doesn't have a classified style advertising option for real estate showcasing. The community newspaper is a weekly. The realty supplement it prints only comes out seven issues a year. It doesn't get sent off the Island...only seen, then, when the buyer gets to the Island...it doesn't "bring" them.

Apparently 90% of property transactions begin online. The early search function is what delivers the eventual transaction.

The mls system in Canada still controls the listing information, at this point. This control may ease, in response to the impact of the Internet, as other options seek to offer information to the consumer. Certainly, change is underway.

The mls system is geographic in its placement of information...a Salt Spring listing appears under Salt Spring...a realtor in a "grey area" (such as on the Gulf Islands) can choose which Board to affiliate with, but the listing itself must be displayed geographically. The Board affiliation is the portal that inputs the listing information, and the listing is placed geographically....

The mls is only one venue for the consumer to search, although for the moment, in Canada, it's the main one. Personal websites from individual realtors are another path...discover that realtor's listings. Company websites present the listings of all realtors at that company. Other print media place specific advertised listings on their websites, for a specified duration (usually 90 days). The only distinct forum for all listings, regardless of a realtor's board or company affiliation, is the mls service...and it is sorted geographically.   Whether it's called mls.ca or realtor.ca, it's the information for listed properties across Canada...listings are mapped geographically, for the consumer's ease in a search.

More questions? Call me! Whether a seller or a buyer, the mls remains, in Canada, the definitive platform for an Internet search for listed properties...and that's where the consumer search begins!

liread33@gmail.com