BELLEVUE CATCHES COUPLE’S EYES
Fateful pit stop in Cochrane reminds pair of their fondness for small-town living
It was on a pleasant drive back to Calgary from a family visit in Canmore when Georgina Dibley and Justin Smidt made a pit stop in Cochrane — and ended up buying a house.
It wasn’t a complete impulse purchase. The young couple, who are tying the knot on Dec. 1, had been searching for a new home for the better part of a year.
They liked the west side of the city and had been living in a twobedroom apartment in Aspen Woods prior to taking possession of their home in June.
The west side is close to Smidt’s job as a golf course superintendent, but the pair was enticed to seriously consider Cochrane.
“We were taken by the community,” says Dibley. “We both grew up in small towns.
“Once we started thinking about Cochrane, we realized it would be a good option for us.”
They had looked at the Fireside community in Cochrane a year before that fateful stop over, but she says it was more for fun.
“We knew about the community, but we hadn’t seen the Calbridge show homes. There was something about the Bellevue show home — the style and the flow inside. We thought we could be happy in that home,” says the bride-to-be.
The Bellevue is a 1,966-squarefoot, three-bedroom, 21/2-bathroom single-family home with a double front-drive garage and upstairs bonus room. Dibley says her parents have a homebuilding company in the United Kingdom, which is where the family relocated from in 2005, and she has an eye for craftsmanship.
“We value the fact that Calbridge is on point with that. They made all those details as much of a priority to them as they were to us.”
She says that the open-concept main floor is her favourite place in the house. “We have a TV and stuff upstairs in the bonus room and we love it up there, but at the end of the evening I’m reluctant to go upstairs,” she says. “It’s homey and peaceful downstairs. It’s so nice to have a living space where Justin and I can spend time together, even if we’re not doing the same thing.”
The additional bedrooms upstairs are perfect for visits from Smidt’s family, who live on the East Coast, and the kitchen and large deck are “really set up for people coming over,” she says.
The couple feel the house is perfect for when children come along, with the new Fireside School directly out their back yard.
“We love the shops in Fireside as well. It’s nice not to have to go all the way down into Cochrane if we just need milk or want to walk over for ice cream in the evening,” Dibley says.
It’s not a surprise that the Bellevue is one of Calbridge Homes’ most popular models, being one of the show homes in Fireside, says Michelle Jakeman, director of sales and marketing.
With a base price of $458,000, the Bellevue is an excellent choice for families yearning for additional living space inside and a better lifestyle in a community where the kids can walk to school.
“People come up the stairs in the Bellevue and see that bright, open bonus room,” Jakeman says.
“Right away, you can see it’s another living space. It separates the master bedroom from the other bedrooms allowing privacy on both ends.
“The master bedroom is off on its own at the front of the house and it’s sunken — you step down into it. It enhances that retreat feeling.”
Calbridge has a good selection of lots and quick-possession homes in the current three phases of Fireside and has just started to build in the newest area, Fireside Estates.
Lots in the estate community are 38 feet to 48 feet wide, easily accommodating a larger home with a triple-car garage.
“This is something purchasers have been looking forward to. The estates are good for families growing within Fireside or Cochrane that need more space in the home or in the garage. Or, downsizers coming off a farm or acreage in the Cochrane area.
“They ’re losing a lot of space and they still want a larger home with a larger garage,” Jakeman says.
Lots in Fireside Estates back onto wetlands and parks, with multiple connection points to walking trails.
“You don’t have to walk very far to find a lot of great views,” she says.
Front-drive garage homes in Fireside Estates start in the low $500,000s, with a variety of lanedhome (garage-out-back) products starting from $366,000.
“If we’d purchased in Calgary, we would have ended up with a much smaller home. Being in Fireside, we could afford a bit bigger house,” Dibley says.