Salt Spring Island Real Estate

Salt Spring Island real estate, Li Read, provides updates about market conditions and local happenings in and around the island of Salt Spring, Ganges, Pender Island, Saturna and James Island.

Salt Spring solstice

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Winter sunsets have a different quality to them…the light is “thinner” in some way, in our northerly environs.

The sun sets in November around 4 p.m., and in the summer season, in July, it would be setting around 10 p.m. Quite a difference!

Manhattanhenge from 42nd Street, New York City

Manhattanhenge from 42nd Street, New York City

The conifer forests always look the same, though, so the “vistas” are remarkably unchanged, regardless of the time of year.

Less blue, more grey to the palette, though? The sun shimmers through the mist in a more golden glow, a softer hue, and in the summer we get those intense reds blurring down to purple, just before dark.

Regardless of the season, it’s always uplifting to view a sunset…is this how the Druids felt, at the soltstice moment, back at Stonehenge, when the light returned?

I’m glad the holiday season involves decorations, lights festooned here and there, as without all this sparkle and trimming, it would be grey days indeed.

Did I tell you that the fibre optic tree is twinkling away in the corner of my office?

Light….always important.

My Real Estate Office in Salt Spring

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My office is in a 1912 restored character building, at the corner of Lower Ganges and Rainbow Roads, in the heart of the seaside Village of Ganges, on Salt Spring Island.

Right across from the Ganges Marina, the Boardwalk, and the marine park area, I get a great Harbour view, and can watch all the boats coming and going to the two Harbour marinas. Some incredible yachts tie up, here!

salt spring island real estate

salt spring island real estate

I have parking behind, off Rainbow Road, with shade trees in case your dog is along, and you’re leaving your pet in your car.

The entrance to my office is on the side of the building, off a spacious deck, and there’s a lovely lawn area there, too…sometimes, my office moves out to the picnic table in the middle of the lawn, especially in the high summer season…so nice!

It’s a relaxed ambiance, with a definite seaside flair, and easy access off the main road…walk ins are welcome!

This is a branch office of the main Whistler based company, and is definitely a Salt Spring Island / Southern Gulf Islands office.

If you find yourself on Salt Spring, please drop in and say hello. Free maps, real estate information, tips on places to go & to enjoy, while you’re on Island…look forward to meeting you!

Beauty and Manor down by the Seashore on Salt Spring Island

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Salt Spring Island Real Estate’s finest Seashore properties

Seashore Beauty

Spectacular masterpiece property in two titles! Totally irreplaceable, and located at Salt Spring Island’s special “south end”.

Beautiful West Coast Contemporary jewel, lovingly created by the artist owner (Canada’s renowned wildlife painter, Robert Bateman).

Manor by the Seashore

Manor by the Seashore

The home (designed by H. Schubart, who studied with Frank Lloyd Wright) offers oceanside living & dining, a country kitchen, guest wing, a lovely master/ensuite with superb views, and an incredibly appealing studio/office “wing”. Storage areas, den alcoves (read or ponder life from these “withdrawing spaces“), windows on “coastal forest” scenes or on ocean vistas, plus a separate studio/suite (guest? nanny?)…it allows one to actively pursue both a family life, an entertaining focus, and an artistic enterprise.

Wood floors, expansive windows, skylights…easy access to the crushed shell cove and to the kayak/canoe “boathouse” (a driftwood gem) — many unique aspects, here, that you will enjoy.

Manor by the Seashore

A beautiful oceanfront acreage (4+ acres), offering spectacular ocean / islands / mountain viewscapes! Coastal forest with meadow areas, & a pleasing driveway that meanders through the forest charm, to arrive at the “west coast contemporary” home. Enjoy a lovely walk on beach with warm ocean swimming (sunsets forever!). There is a terrific studio space (artist? home occupation?), with adjacent guest “suite”. The plus? A double garage, at house level, and a separate oversize garage & workshop, positioned along the entrance driveway (perfect for boat storage or for those classic cars!).

Beachfront & Tuscan charm on Salt Spring Island

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beachfront

beachfront

Waterfront living on Salt Spring Island.

Walk-on beach with sheltered cove, boat-launching ramp, beachside float-plane / boat-house with power and water, and swimming float. The property features a panoramic viewscape, stunning sunsets, privacy, access to shell-fishing, trails, ponds & creek. Notably, it is fully fenced, with a cosy courtyard, heated swimming pool, 1200 sq. ft. workshop, and separate studio. Zoning allows for a cottage. Well sited along a stately driveway, the custom-built, 4 bed home (1991 addition designed by H. Schubart) features a level entry, lavish master bedroom suite on main floor and lower-level guest accommodation… for $2,200,000

Fields of Gold?

tuscan

… and then there is… this Tuscan Oceanfront which is simply
One of the very best oceanfront parcels, and it could be yours! In the prestigious and beautiful Fruitvale area, this parcel enjoys excellent sun exposure (s/sw/w), plus expansive sand & crushed shell beach, plus has a foreshore licence & geothermal capability (build your own dock, here!).

Excellent water supply. Arable land (once part of an historic farm), enjoy the heirloom orchard, the bountiful veggie garden, the easy care landscaping….the home offers an homage to Tuscan charm, and is sited close to the beach.

The Turqoise Door (and hibachi) | Salt Spring Island

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This used to be a very typical “Island retreat”…a cabin in the forest, a short stroll to a beach, a kind of “woodbutcher’s art” thrown together dwelling…people would camp out on weekends, and in summer holidays. In fact, such structures are really a kind of “hard tent”.

turquoise door

turquoise door

It’s rare now, though, to discover this kind of older retreat dwelling, especially on the more discovered islands. On water access only opportunities, it’s still possible to find thrown together structures, with recovered lumber, “found” windows, left-over elements from a larger construction project perhaps….

I always enjoy discovering a “time tunnel”, a feature from the past. This little sweetheart actually sits on a very private half acre lot, about 3 minutes to the ocean, and if one limbed out some deciduous trees, it would be possible to reclaim the ocean glimpses that once were enjoyed from this deck.

Of course, code requirements and paper trails have caught up this this sweetie “hard tent”, and one would buy this lot with a view to developing, and it would be treated as simply “raw land” now.

Pug with hibachi

pug with hibachi

I can envision the hibachi on the deck, a hammock strung between trees, some stacked underbrush firewood for the nonconfoming woodstove inside, some camp beds in the one room, and the outhouse just up the trail. This is an “off the grid” enviornment, and there is something very appealing about that turquoise door.

Ah…for the good old hippie dippie days…..

Denman Island Treasure

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Denman Island Treasure

A dream awaits you! 12 acres of sunny tranquility and privacy, just for you, on serene Denman Island. The property enjoys some forest areas, plus easy care and creative landscaping around the home. South/southwest/west exposures ensure year round/all day sun, and extensive patio areas expand summer living pleasures. Fronting on a marsh, a bird sanctuary, the “lake” here allows for canoeing the bends in the marsh…a very pleasing past-time.

denman island treasure

denman island

The home is new, and you have time to choose finishes, here! Radiant infloor heat, custom bathroom fixtures (you’ll love the shower and the tub in the master ensuite!), open plan kitchen/dining (top of the line appliances), custom built-in cabinetry for storage, pantry, dramatic living with vaulted ceiling, stairs from the formal entry/foyer to the master “suite”, and stairs from the family room to the children’s “wing”. A climbing wall feature from the family room, plus a terrific work-out exercise space.

This space has to be seen to be appreciated…

Easy access to the patio areas/barbecue space, from all principal rooms. This home could be featured in Dwell Magazine, and offers that clean-lined simplicity of the best of “west coast contemporary” Zen/Scandanavian influenced design. European windows, doors, everything chosen of very fine quality. The final finishing choices can be yours!

An amazing “shop” on the property, separately sited from the home. It holds a state of the art fully computerized woodworking business, at the moment. If desired, a buyer could offer on the equipment as well. The owner is a custom cabinet designer/creator, and his work is found in the very best homes on the Lower Mainland/in Whistler. He is able to work from home, on Denman. This space has to be seen to be appreciated…

…the word “shop” does not describe it, at all.