Li's Blog

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....

Another special event that occurs on Salt Spring, annually, is the B.C. soccer tourney.

And yes, both the sailing race & the big soccer event take place every year on the same holiday weekend!

If you're catching ferries, remember to leave lots of time...vacation seekers, racers, soccer players...and their families...it's definitely a busy weekend on many levels! Might even be line-ups at restaurants...enjoy it all.

Did we mention the live music gigs around the island?  The studio/gallery tours all open and welcoming?  The kayak rentals & scooter fun?   What about the cyclists, prepping for June's Velo Village event?   Take time...smell the roses...kick back.

Almost summer is with us!

May 19, 2012.

Got your best vantage points for enjoying the drama of the annual Round Salt Spring Sailing Race?

The start is in Ganges Harbour...if you miss that, you can see them come round Beaver Point at Ruckle Park. For a long distance vista, catch the fleet from the heights of Mt Tuam Estates.

Out at Musgrave Landing? They start up Sansum Narrows, past here.

A great sighting deck is at the Seaside Kitchen at Vesuvius!

Out at end of Arbutus Road, at Southey Point? Another great view of the fleet, as they round the island to start down Trincomali Channel & the leg home.

Fernwood Dock is another spot to catch the drama! Nose Point at Maracaibo & at Scott Point and then it's the spinnaker run down Ganges Harbour, to the Sailing Club "finish".

Depending on wind, it can be a fast or a slow race...the above photo was taken at a race three years ago.

This race is often seen as the shakedown for the boats/crews taking part in Victoria's famed Swiftsure Race, the following weekend. There are usually 100+ boats taking part in the Salt Spring race...a great Island tradition!

Welcome racers!

The May Long Weekend is with us...called Victoria Day, it commemorates the birthday of Queen Victoria.

This is a special year for Britain & the Commonwealth countries as it celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth...this marks 60 years on the throne. Lots of events, and members of the Royal Family will be visiting the Commonwealth countries, including coming to Canada.

The Commonwealth countries certainly all began as colonies of Great Britain, at the close of the 19th Century, at the height of the Age of Empire...now, they are a loosely knit federation, involved with trade & commerce among many shared interests.

In Canada, this Long Weekend is also the traditional beginning of the Summer Season, with people opening up their cottages, bringing out the patio furniture, cleaning up after Winter's palette.

On Salt Spring, it's the annual Round Salt Spring Sailing Race, the annual Soccer Tournament, plus the full on Saturday Market in the Park, the galleries & studios are open, and the marinas are welcoming the boaters...that's another kind of "cottage opening"...we are in the best protected boating waters in the world, & Ganges is a destination venue for boaters!

Very talented musicians are entertaining us at live venues around town: Harbour House Hotel, Treehouse Cafe (their nightly live music season has begun!), Moby's, Salt Spring Inn, Raven Street Cafe...enjoy!

Lunch, dinner, coffee/tea times on sunny patios & decks (if an oceanview, then get to watch some leg of the sailing race!): Harbour House Hotel, Seaside Kitchen, Auntie Pesto's, Salt Spring Inn, Rock Salt Cafe, Moby's, Fernwood Cafe, TJ Beans, Cafe Talia, Penny's Pantry, Barb's Bakery....

Lots to see & to do, just for you!

Looking for real estate? Please call me...appreciated!

liread33@gmail.com

Coastal people...the allure of water....

Vancouver is an amazing city, suspended between sea & mountains. It has nowhere to go but up!

The Sunshine Coast (good marketing ploy...gets same rain as Vancouver's North Shore!) is also a thin ribbon of land between sea & mountain.

Vancouver Island's undulating length is split between wild west coast & softer east coast by the spiny med-section of those mountains, again.

Victoria sits at the very south end of the large reach of Vancouver Island...it is the capital city of B.C.

The Gulf Islands, including Salt Spring Island, nestle into the lee shore of Vancouver Island, benefitting from its rain shadow effect, which delivers a micro-climate known as "cool Mediterranean".

Sea to Sky is the label for a highway linking Vancouver & Whistler, the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. From Horseshoe Bay, in West Vancouver, all the way to Whistler, the road is known as the Sea to Sky highway.

It's an evocative image...the dramatic & oh so lovely concept of the meshing of sea and sky....

All those who are lucky enough to call the Pacific Northwest Coast home understand immediately the allure of this entire region.

If you are from "elsewhere", how do you choose?

It's very important to me that you find your special place...I list & sell on the Gulf Islands & on Vancouver Island. They are my "backyard"! I know Victoria & Vancouver very well, as have lived in both cities...I also know the Sunshine Coast very well. In these areas, though, I have built up an exceptional referral team of knowledgeable realtors...I look forward to referring you to the best of the best, for these specific areas.

Please call me, when you are ready to view Gulf Islands (including Salt Spring Island), & Vancouver Island properties. Your best interests are essential to me...no matter how long it takes, it's important to me that you find your special property!

I have access to all listings, from all companies, & will make certain that you "see it all" in your preferred categories, so that you can make that all important "informed decision".

How may I help you to buy your Gulf Islands, Salt Spring Island, & Vancouver Island property? Look forward to your call!

liread33@gmail.com

Lovely winding drive, through coastal forest, emerges at lawn, with "natural" mature landscaping, orchard, and a seaside home and cottage to inspire one.


With an appealing blend of "west coast contemporary" with Hamptons elegance, this home lends itself to a family retreat use, perhaps a high end bed & breakfast option, would make an ideal corporate retreat, and a professional couple working from home would also find this home's design of significant interest.


Inviting verandah style covered deck at entrance, formal entry foyer, spacious oceanside living with custom and energy efficient fireplace, entertainment size dining with an ocean vista, cooks' dream kitchen off, also with that mesmerizing view...custom doors open to the oceanside deck from the dining area....easy to reach the cottage from here, too! Powder room, master with ensuite, access to oceanside deck, plus office off, and access to attached garage, all from this main entry level. Also, a separate laundry, mudroom and storage. Wood floors, custom window treatments...an ambiance of a true country home!


Lower (daylight) level offers two bed/bath, plus storage, wine cellar, family room, media room....oceanside patio off....


The adjacent cottage is a dream guest space Vistas down the length of Trincomali Channel...an impactful view! The lower (daylight) level of the cottage is a terrific workout/gym space...and with that dramatic viewscape.

Beautiful sand and crushed shell beach...mooring buoy for your boat...a beachcomber's paradise, here! Ocean swimming, serene privacy, a yesteryear ambiance with all of the amenities desired in the 21st Century...here is the best of the Salt Spring lifestyle, and waiting for you! Sunny and quiet...recharge here!

In prestigious Southey Point!

Call me, and let's view soon.

A Dock For Your Boat?


This very pretty property in "natural state" offers a 2 or 3 bed / one bath panabode style vacation retreat home (sep. panabode double garage), plus enjoys an almost new state of the art dock (keep your boat at home!) and sunny oceanside decks.

Dramatic & panoramic ocean & island vistas with South / Southwest / West exposures, and located on prestigious Scott Point.

Good tenants in place; would stay, if desired (24 hr notice required).

A great summer/weekender retreat for now, or live in it while building your dream home. A perfect and private building site near the decking and dock, with the "allure" of a small point of land...very expansive views.

The cottage is not on the best building site!

A best buy opportunity, and a great holding property for later.


Wow...a very best buy oceanfront property on special Salt Spring Island, and awaiting your enjoyment!

Totally renovated / updated country retreat home, with sunny patio and deck areas, very private, space for guests to be comfortably "apart" and a master retreat for the owners. Open plan living / dining, spacious for entertaining and for being cosy when on one's own...great kitchen!

Tranquil marine vistas, dock in place (year round moorage, here), plus mooring buoy for guests. Easy care landscaping....forest surround for privacy....beach when the tide is out (beachcombing pleasures with the visiting grandchildren, perhaps?), and nice swimming here, too.

In an area of fine homes, close to Ganges Village and all amenities, and yet wonderfully "apart". Quiet retreat awaits your pleasure!


Wow! Terrific "as new" custom home, an award winning renovation/rebuild, with one of Salt Spring's top builders. Oceanfront, easy access to deep water moorage (dock in place; keep your boat at home!), and with exceptional panoramic ocean and mountain vistas! Sunny (s/sw/w exposures), pastoral vistas at entrance to the private property, and ocean views, too...very unique!

Home offers main level dramatic open plan living/dining, superb cook's dream kitchen, separate pantry/storage, feature stone fireplace, a "green" design ethic, library/den, separate laundry, mudroom entry plus formal entry/foyer. Loft office space enjoys the same dramatic views as the living spaces!

Windows on the oceanview open completely, inviting the inside/outside allure so treasured in the summer season!

Master ensuite (steam shower!), plus powder room completes this spacious main level. Lower garden level offers two guest beds/bath, and family room. Patio areas, plus oceanview decking expand summer living pleasures.

Double garage, plus double carport. Easy care "natural" landscaping! Hot tub with a view.

So many unique features here -- must be seen to be appreciated. Truly, one of Salt Spring's best oceanfront opportunities awaits your pleasure.


Standing on the oceanside decking, one is transported to Italy...perhaps that's what Salt Spring is? Portofino of the West?

Enjoy this elegant oceanfront home, located in a premiere area of Salt Spring Island (prestigious Old Scott Road)!

Dramatic and wide-angle panoramic ocean vistas, with South / Southwest / West exposures (wonderful sunsets from here), the walk on beach is easily accessed by path & stairs or by marine elevator. Keep your yacht at the terrific dock, right in front of your home. Very rare to offer both beach and deep water dock!

Home's main floor (level entry) offers formal entry/foyer, spacious living / dining (feature stone fireplaces) & a super entertainment solarium, all with easy access to expansive oceanview decking. Home also offers a country kitchen with breakfast area, mudroom / laundry, guest powder room, stylish master bedroom / study with ensuite, and a hot tub on the master's private deck.

The garden level enjoys expansive games room, bathroom, workshop, 2 guest bedrooms/bath, and access to a separate suite (suitable for a potential B&B or guest / inlaw option). The garden level enjoys its own sun splashed decking.

There is a fun beachfront summer house to expand summer living pleasure, at dock side!

A casually elegant lifestyle awaits you, here -- just move in and enjoy!

  Call me to arrange your personal tour!

Cottage Retreats Just For You!


Very tranquil and private oceanview lot, with "sweetie" one bedroom cedar cottage in place. Wood floors, majestic forest surround, orchard, easy care landscaping, private drive entry, seasonal creek on one border.

Just steps to quiet beach access -- possible to moor a boat on a mooring buoy, in the bay, and sandy beach allows beachcombing pleasures, and warm ocean swimming when tide is in.

Just minutes to Ganges Village, and to all services/amenities.

A best buy investment property, and the perfect "retreat" for now, on special Salt Spring Island.


A private building opportunity located close to a lovely beach access!

Some seaviews may be possible with selective clearing (over the ownership of current owners, trees have not been limbed/trimmed to retain the oceanviews that were in evidence, on their property purchase).

There is a trail leading you to a sleeping cabin, which is like a hard tent, perfect for summer camping out.

Property is in a quiet & private location, and is mere minutes to the amenities of Ganges, yet is in its own serene world.

Keep your boat at a mooring buoy in nearby Walker's Hook Bay (good swimming here, too), and walk home. Great kayaking in this area!

Opportunity! Call me soon!


Looking for a beautiful walk-on beach, a terrific beach-combing / walking gem, with warm ocean swimming? A kayaker's paradise? In the heart of the best protected boating waters in the world?

Here it is! A lovely island-style cottage retreat, waiting for your ideas...good tenant in place would stay, if desired.

Private, quiet area, a natural allure to this gentle area, with good sun. Want a garden? Would work, here! Dramatic panoramic viewscapes to savour.

A family holding, and now time to sell...this gem is a great holding property for now and an excellent development opportunity for the future.

24 hr notice for all showings. Call and let's view this true beachfront beauty.

Looking for a private island paradise, with secure year round moorage for your boat, if desired, and with a very appealing country style main home and a beauty cottage, too?

Here it is!


Garage plus parking space at Canoe Cove, plus covered boat slip...easy to keep a run-about boat here for quick back & forth jaunts to shore.


Kolb Island enjoys the peaceful beauty of your own island plus the proximity to all services and amenities of Sidney and of Victoria. Easy to get to from anywhere in the world, and yet wonderfully private and "apart" upon arrival.


Authentic country style main home, with main level expansive living (feature wood-burning fireplace), dining with a seaview, spacious country kitchen with breakfast area, guest bed and bath. Master bed-sitting with ensuite on the upper level...a hidden retreat! Appealing deck wraps the home, offering different viewscapes. An adjacent "bunky" cabin is the perfect writer's retreat and overflow guest accommodation!


The two bed guest cottage is nestled beside the sea, and is privately sited from the main home...the country design ethic has been retained here, in this newer addition to the Island.


An original cabin, perhaps dating from the 1920s, perched at water's edge has been retained...a very picturesque destination while strolling the island.

Connected to Vancouver Island for power and water, and with a back-up generator system, this is a recipe for being self-sufficient and self-sustaining.

Private trails, easy care natural landscaping around the home, lovely stands of forest, arbutus & Garry Oak groves, covered wood storage, veggie garden, terrific storage building for all the extras that go with a boater's life...private points of land for pondering life & nature, bays for star-watching & swimming...coves to beachcomb.

This is a very very appealing private island experience, with open sea vistas & serene protected bays.

You will love the very expansive docks and the welcoming arrival decking. Authentic boathouse, right there, for convenience!

Sunny (e/s/w exposures), peaceful, near and yet far...it doesn't get any better!

Call for your appointment to view...48 hour notice for all viewings.

Is there a typical buyer profile, for special Salt Spring Island or a Gulf Island?

Don't think so! A very eclectic group of people call Salt Spring "home", and the Island seems to call forth this happy mix of residents.

All ages are attracted...yes, a retirement option, but young families, too. A back to the land/hobby farm seeker, entrepreneurial retail business people, artists who welcome the illuminating culture available to them, and alternative health practitioners are also all attracted to the Island.

With the Internet making it possible to live anywhere, & to successfully ply the waters of the digital world, the techies are also a strong part of the Salt Spring "mix".

Those interested in Nature will enjoy the hiking/walking trails, the active sailing program year round (skippers always looking for crew), the active tennis scene, the dynamic golf world, & the general environmental allure of this very scenically beautiful Island.

Great schools, a full health service & hospital, 3 different ferries servicing the Island & 3 different floatplane companies...easy to get here! The amenities for a year round lifestyle are all in place.

Something for everyone, it seems...if there is a "link" between the many differences, it might be the strong sense of a caring community...things & people "matter" to Salt Springers.

More info? Call me!

Looking to be a part of the vibrant Salt Spring community? Look forward to meeting you & to helping you to buy your special property. I work for you!

liread33@gmail.com