Spectacular points of view
Big outlooks on offer at development 10 minutes from downtown Kelowna
Keith and Sandra Mackinnon’s new purchase at Wilden’s Rocky Point, high above the east side of B.C.’s Okanagan Lake, represents big change from their acreage home near Edmonton.
“The views are spectacular and the architectural guidelines will keep it unique and beautiful,” Mackinnon said. But the biggest change — something many Albertans need no reminder about — is the climate.
“We are going to be going from six months of winter to six months of summer,” he said.
Keith Mackinnon, who is retiring from his sewer and water contracting business, and wife Sandra, plan to sell their Edmonton home in the next year. For two years now, from their Kelowna cottage on the lake’s west side, they have been keeping an eye on Wilden, as local devel- oper Gerhard Blenk’s long-held vision of a $1.1-billion masterplanned community takes shape. The long-term plan, possibly 40 years in the making, could see as many as 2,800 homes unfold on Wilden’s 2,000 acres.
Blenk, a former Liechtenstein gun manufacturer and biathlon team member, walked, hiked and cycled his way through the property in the mid-1990s, assembling land parcels of what is touted today as the largest single residential development between Calgary and Vancouver. Since the mid-2000s, about 650 homes have been built at Wilden. About 1,000 acres of the development will remain in a natural state.
Now in his 70s, Blenk has passed the reins to his daughter, Karin Eger-Blenk, to move Wilden forward. Like her father, Eger-Blenk’s involvement in Wilden is a labour of love of nature, as much as it is a business.
“When you move here, as I did from Europe to Canada, you want to see lots of nature, and that’s what you do here — from every corner of the property,” she said.
“You see the parks and the lake and the nature around you. You can be 10 minutes from town and yet live like you are way out here in nature.”
Sales manager Brent Couves says the lots are large enough to accommodate homes 70 feet wide and he expects homes of up to 5,500 square feet to be built on the lots.
“We are seeing a trend to level lots in this neighbourhood,” Couves said.
“We are finding a lot of people wanting their pool and larger living spaces off the main floor. “We are also seeing outdoor living spaces of 1,600 to 1,800 square feet, with outdoor kitchen and eating areas, swimming pools and then a couple of guest bedrooms and a den upstairs.”
Wilden relies on reputable local home builders to provide the product, which works out best for the consumer, who can count on support from Wilden should any issues arise, he said.
“We went out and hand-picked four of the best builders in Kelowna that do the homebuilding for us up here. You are buying a lot from us, the developer who really controls the guidelines and how we want things to look up here. And by you being able to select one of the four builders, you have absolutely no issues with lack of trades.”
Wilden is also encouraging new innovations in home building, initially in their townhouse developments, where it has introduced a dual-fuel system by Bosch, where homeowners can switch between geothermal and natural gas.
“So natural gas prices are low, you run gas,” she said. “When gas goes up, you switch over to geothermal. We will be promoting these with single detached homes, as well.”
Meanwhile, Wilden is partnering with the University of B.C., Okanagan, on a research project to explore the efficiency of different energy systems in two different homes.
Eger-Blenk said that she has relied heavily on the Internet and so- cial media to reach out to potential buyers.
“About 80 per cent of our advertising runs through the Internet,” she said. “It has definitely worked out for us. We are also running social media campaigns through Facebook and through Instagram. It gives us a lot of direct feedback and a lot of control and then we engage with the client through personal contact.”
Dave Chatham, who has been building homes in Kelowna for 30 years, says Wilden clients have particular wants. “They are all looking for the master on the main and bedrooms down or master on the main and a couple of bedrooms up,” he said, adding swimming pools are always on the list of desired features.
Chatham said that while the Craftsman style, with its attention to wood, peaked roofs and prominent front door columns, remains popular, “we are definitely getting more interest in new designs.”
“The show home is a hybrid between a Prairie style (with lower pitched roofs and large overhangs) and the Modern style,” he said.