Lakeside living in Lake Country: Beaches, boating and tree-lined trails

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If you’ve ever dreamed of estate living by the lakeside, a new development called, fittingly, Lakeside Estates could be your dream come true. And at half the price of city life.

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Located roughly 15 minutes outside Kelowna in Lake Country, the project comprises 44 three-storey townhomes. It is just a block from its namesake, Wood Lake, popular with fishing, boating, and basking on the beach.

Lakeside’s developer, Belvedere LC Property Ltd., is behind several residential projects in the region, including West Kelowna’s Talus Ridge, as well as townhomes in the city’s Lower Mission. With Lakeside Estates, Belvedere, in partnership with BlueGreen Architecture, envisions an aesthetic blend of “contemporary-traditional.”

Exteriors are Hardie board siding, stucco, with wood-and-slate rock accents to give it “a west coast touch,” says Bob Guy, Belvedere’s development manager. “Also, we have creeks on both sides, Winfield Creek on one side and Vernon Creek on the east side, along with large trees, shrubs and tall grass. You’re literally living on the side of a creek bed. Approximately 75 per cent of the units are on green space or riparian setback, which is like living in the country.”

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An entry-level terrace and two patios off the second floor, one of which features a natural gas outlet off the kitchen for barbecuing, offer plenty of outdoor living on warm days.

Each home has a double garage, wired for EV car chargers, as well as a 4.5-meter driveway for another vehicle.

The six floorplans, which range from 1,500 to 1,900 square feet, offer a choice of cool or warm color schemes, as conceived by Kelowna’s Materia Interior Design.

All units have three bedrooms, a den, and two-and-a-half bathrooms, including an ensuite.

The main bathroom features a tub and shower combo with Moen trim set, vanities with soft-close Shaker cabinets and drawers with a choice of contemporary metal pulls in matte black, chrome or aurum brushed gold.

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The ensuite has Italian porcelain tile, a Moen rain showerhead, and high-efficiency toilets. Three different color fixtures include gold, black or chrome.

Light and airy kitchens feature durable, stain-resistant Caesarstone quartz countertops, Bricco glazed porcelain tile backsplash, pendant lights above the island, which seats four, and a chandelier in the dining room. Like the bathrooms, soft-close Shaker cabinets are finished in Benjamin Moore Simply White with metal pulls in matte black, chrome or aurum brushed gold.

The appliance package is GE, and the gas range and water tank.

“Flooring is engineered hardwood,” says Don Warkentin, founder of Kelowna’s Fortune Marketing, handling marketing and sales for the project. “More and more people with pets and young kids don’t want the real hardwood because it scratches so easily. Engineered hardwood is more durable and easier to maintain.”

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Guy adds that all units have sprinklers, “Which is not that common with townhouses, but it makes a difference in terms of reducing your insurance.”

Warkentin says construction is well underway, with sewer, water and electrical already installed and foundations ready for pouring in May. “They’ve also poured all the sidewalks and curbing, with road paving about to begin. Once the framing starts, they’ll go up fairly quickly, with the first homes, starting from the high $600,000s, ready for summer of 2023.”

Plans for an additional 130 condos, spread over three buildings, will follow about a year later.

Lakeside’s proximity to the airport and UBC Okanagan campus — both 10 minutes away — as well as 15 minutes to Vernon, multiple parks, orchards and wineries, are a big draw.

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Warkentin says buyers will enjoy Lake Country’s many outdoor recreation opportunities. There’s the lake, of course, but also plenty of biking, hiking and walking trails. You can hop on your bike from your front door and follow the property’s internal walkways to connect to the Woodsdale Road bike paths and onto the Okanagan Rail Trail. More than 50 km of walking and cycling trails wind past forests, cliffs, ponds and up as far as expansive Kalamalka Lake.

“Since the pandemic, people have been re-evaluating their lives, where they want to live, and (they’re not) so sure about living in the city anymore,” says Warkentin. “They’re selling their places in the Lower Mainland or Toronto for $2 million, buying a place here for half that, putting the rest in their pocket and saying, ‘Now I can enjoy my life.’”

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Project name: Lakeside Estates

Project addresses: 3041 Woodsdale Road, Lake Country

Developers: Belvedere LC Property Ltd.

Architect: BlueGreen Architecture Inc.

Interior design: Subject Interior Design

Project size: 44 townhomes, with future phase to include 130 condos on the perimeter

Price: start at upper $600,000s

Sales centre: 3041 Woodsdale Road, Lake Country

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 4 pm

Telephone: 778-821-0882

website: LakesideEstates.ca