Park View on Tillicum near the Gorge was planned before the real estate market slipped, so the 10 three-level townhouses have some features that were expected to be part of higher-priced packages, according to John Monkhouse, the Royal LePage real estate agent who was manning an open house one recent weekend afternoon.
The homes were designed by the Zebra Group, the well-known Victoria design team whose work has often graced the Times Colonist Homes pages.
The ground floor is taken up by an entry hall, a single garage (which comes equipped with a charger for an electric car), a washroom and a room that could be used for a guest room or an office. For anybody running a home business, it would be convenient to have an office that would not necessitate clients entering the home territory upstairs. The washroom facilities on this level have laminate counters, while upstairs you'll see quartz countertops.
There's also a big storage cupboard under the stairs. This is where you can stash the Christmas lights or the patio umbrella in the other seasons.
The main floor is one big, open space. Some plans have the kitchen in the centre of the long space; others have a u-shaped kitchen with breakfast bar at one end.
The kitchens are attractive with quartz countertops and island or peninsula, and good quality appliances. I was particularly impressed by the gas stoves. There's a reason you see gas cooktops in professional kitchens. It's so much more efficient and gives the cook so much more control over the heat.
The stove isn't the only thing powered by gas. The radiant, in-floor heat is gas fired, as are the hot-water-on-demand system and the laundry dryer. Out on the back patio, you'll find gas connections for a barbecue and outdoor heaters.
John the realtor says that using gas rather than hydro dramatically reduces utility bills -- by up to 75 per cent at today's rates.
The show suite I visited had the kitchen in the middle with a sitting room by the front window and a dining area at the rear. Of course, if you choose to eat at the kitchen island, you can use the dining room space for anything that appeals.
There's a powder room on the main floor.
Upstairs are two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. The larger bedroom has only a shower stall in its ensuite. It's a decent size, not one of those tiny showers you see in some older homes. As mentioned, the counters are attractive quartz with under-mounted sinks. The bathroom fans struck me as a bit on the noisy side.
The second bedroom's ensuite has a tub-shower combination, with a curved shower rod to make the tub seem more spacious.
The bedrooms themselves are a decent size. The closets aren't huge, but each is equipped with handsome organizers that make the most of the space.
The laundry facilities are in a small room with a laminate-topped cabinet where washing can be folded and the detergent etc. stored.
The townhouses range in size from about 1,600 to 1,700 square feet, and the prices range between about $460,000 and $525,000.
The neighbourhood has its good points and drawbacks. On the one hand, it's a bit startling to wander through an attractive, half-million-dollar townhouse and look out on a neighbourhood with older, poorly maintained houses sitting amid a litter of fuel tanks, children's bicycles and assorted garbage. A broken down fence suggests a lack of pride in the property.
The up side is that it's a couple of minutes walk to the peace and serenity of a park on the Gorge waterway, and a couple of minutes in the other direction will take you to the Gorge Vale Golf Club. And a few minutes in the car will take you to shops and services.
Ten townhouses means the chances are good you'll have to take your turn to serve on the strata council, unless you find a few neighbours who really adore being on committees and executives. Strata fees cover building insurance, garbage pickup etc. And since you're starting from scratch, you can go in with a long-term plan for building a contingency fund for future repairs so nobody will ever be hit with a special levy.
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Project: Parkview on the Gorge
Showhome: 1060 Tillicum
Developer: Large and Co.
Real Estate team: Saira Waters, Tasha Noble and John Monkhouse
Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty
