FAMILIES FLOCK TO EAGLEHURST COMMUNITY
Energy-efficient homes make up North Saanich neighbourhood
An eagle is soaring over the large single-family community of detached homes on the Saanich Peninsula on southern Vancouver Island.
“She’s just had eaglets and we think of her as our mascot,” enthuses Brooke Alexander, a realtor with Dexter Associates Realty.
The energy-efficient homes, designed to a Built Green gold status, make up the new neighbourhood that borders Sidney in North Saanich. With an emphasis on living within nature, it took 16 years to bring this community to fruition.
The 99 residences in Eaglehurst Homes’ Phase 1 are almost entirely sold and 20 in Phase 2 are currently under construction. The first move-in took place last week.
“Although Mainlanders are probably more familiar with Sidney and North Saanich as a popular Vancouver Island retirement community, it’s exciting to see people in their 30s coming back to the area, as well as families, empty-nesters and what we like to call ‘the babysitters’ or grandparents,” Alexander says.
It was all of the above and more that attracted Keith and Lorraine Dowty to the community. Perhaps surprisingly, the retired couple is upsizing to a 2,187-square-foot three-bedroom home when they move from West Vancouver in September.
“You know, we bought a condo in Ladner two years ago and it just wasn’t for us,” Keith says. “We like living in a house and we’ve always wanted a walkout to the garden from the main floor, which we don’t have now living temporarily in West Van.
“We chose the Burrard model at Eaglehurst and I love that the landscaping is beautiful with built-in irrigation and fencing around the home. I’ve had 27 years of mowing lawns while moving sprinklers, but not anymore!”
“We also like the option of the master on the main floor,” Lorraine adds, “because now our daughter and her family or other guests have the entire upstairs. It’s like a private suite when they come to visit.”
The project is being built by the Citta Group, which was instrumental in shaping and preserving Victoria’s historical character in Old Town. “We’ve really gone all out to offer high-quality amenities that in other developments would be considered extras,” says Mike Dalton, Citta Group vice-president and general manager.
They include premium fixtures and finishings in interiors designed by Sandy Nygaard of Nygaard Interior Design, based in Victoria. With choices in three categories of interiors — Classic, Transitional and Contemporary — buyers can choose, for example, from a traditional Shaker heritage feel in kitchen cabinetry and crown mouldings, edgier tiles for back splashes in the Transitional interiors kitchens, and steel and glass floating cabinets and deep soaker tubs in Contemporary bathrooms.
All bedrooms have walk-in closets with custom organizers. Most homes have a fully insulated attached garage, a plus for yearround workshops.
Kitchens are fitted with fivepiece KitchenAid or Samsung stainless steel appliances with an natural gas range (optional electric), Caesarstone countertops and islands with built-in microwaves. (The Dowtys added a wine fridge in their kitchen.)
“The elegant ensuite in each home has in-floor radiant heating, Caesarstone slab countertops and an oversized shower with glass frameless doors. I’ve really kept the colour palettes throughout each home neutral — white and soft grey,” Nygaard says. “When you’re designing for a client, style must be timeless and allow for them to instil their own personality into their home.”
Show home staging by Home Style Solutions envisions what all eight model homes and floor plans have in common (a ninth has just been added to Phase 2.): expansive living areas with nine-foot ceilings and huge picture windows with window screens that allow light to stream into living spaces, light or dark engineered wide-plank hardwood floors and in the great room and a gas fireplace with choice of decorative surround.
Dalton emphasizes that plans cater to all groups with modifications that can be made for homeowners with disabilities.
If you’re an artist and wanting a private studio, The Amsden is the only model that offers a selfcontained 1,269-square-foot suite above the detached double-car garage in a carriage house across from the main home. “With one bedroom and one bath, it’s also perfect as a mortgage helper or in-law suite too,” says Alexander. “There is a cute little bridge over the rain garden swales to get to it from the main house so you have a real feeling of privacy, but it’s still close by.”
The community also has landscaped walkways and a community garden with 20 cedar plots and a shared tool shed. The neighbourhood, with three schools close by and sidewalks on both sides, was created by landscape architects Murdoch de Greeff Inc., with a goal of sustainability as well as beauty. Biking or walking oceanside is just a few minutes away for outdoor enthusiasts.
“We love that this community has the feel of a small town with all the amenities of a big city like Victoria and Vancouver,” says Lorraine Dowty.
“Fifteen minutes to the Uptown Shopping Centre and four minutes to Victoria International Airport. In fact, the ferry at Swartz Bay from Vancouver practically docks at your door,” Keith says. “What more could we ask for?”