We are selling our lovely character home. We are initially offering the house for sale without using the services of a realtor. If you are interested yourselves give us a call. If you know of someone who is in the market please forward the information along. It would be appreciated.
The address is Unit 6, 4295 Carey Road at the corner of Wilkinson and Carey Road. You enter the property using the driveway off Carey Road. The property is called Daffodil Lane. Our house is a 5 bedroom, 2 bath and den home. Total square footage approximately 2545 sq. feet (1087 sq. feet on the main floor, 458 sq. feet on the upper floor, and about 1000 sq. feet in the basement of usable living space). The under house garage is not considered in those approximate measurements. Taxes this year were $2,735.86 prior to grants. Asking Price is $630,000
The house was built in 1933 by the manager for the Layritz Nurseries, George Fagerberg and his wife, who lived here till the late eighties. They had no children so they only used the main floor of the house (the only developed part of the house during their tenure). He planted out the property with a wide variety of trees and shrubs including Beech, Gingko, London Plane, Fir, Cedar, Pine, Birch, Hazelnut, Japanese Maple, Magnolia, False Cherry, assorted Camellias, Lilacs, Rhododendrons, Yews, Fireweed and Bay. The original driveway came off of Wilkinson Road to the under the house garage. The house was then purchased from the estate by Brad Cunin, a local surveyor. Brad developed the attic on the top floor of our house putting in 3 gables, a bathroom, a den and the master bedroom with French doors to a small 4x8 deck. The front door of the house and large front deck faces west, looking across to a field that is used for commercial farming (in the ALR) owned now by the Vantreight’s (formerly by the Layritz’s). There is a farm stand there each summer selling fruits and vegetables. Brad Cunin then partnered with Cam Pringle of Cadillac Homes to develop the approximately 1 acre property. To do this they created a strata arrangement. Cam Pringle bought out Brad Cunin from the partnership and developed the property adding 5 homes all designed to complement the original house on the property. The houses went up for sale in late summer 1992. The strata won an award for best strata development in 1992 (Victoria Home Builders Association). We bought it from Cadillac Homes at that time.
When we took ownership we developed the basement into 2 very large bedrooms, a wide hall, laundry room, utility/work room and furnace room. Also in the lower floor of the house is the garage. We use the garage for air hockey play and storage. We have 2 additional parking spots on our property. We put a sub floor in the basement with spacers to allow for proper air circulation in the sub floor. The whole house has excellent insulation with careful thought given to insulating between the lower floor and the main floor. The lower and main floor of the house are heated with hot water. A new high efficiency Burnham Gas Boiler was put in place in 1992 replacing the old coal, then oil fired hot water system (it was still working). The gas hot water tank was new as of 2010. The top floor is heated by electricity (baseboards). In 1992 we also remodeled the lower bathroom completely leaving the original fixtures from the 30’s in place (sink, taps, and tub). In 2005 the hall and the 2 bedrooms on the main floor had the carpeting removed and the wood floors were refinished. About the same time we removed the small 4x8 deck attached to the upper floor master bedroom. Now the French doors lead on to a new much larger and more usable 10x10 deck. We have canvas privacy screens we mount in the summer when we use the deck. The house is the highest in the area so we have views from the top floor bedroom and deck facing south to the Olympics.
In 2010 we undertook a major renovation of the house, painting the top 2 floors, redoing the kitchen cupboards, removing the linoleum from the kitchen floor and then refinishing the end grain fir found underneath. We refinished the oak floors in the living and dining rooms. On the upper floor we removed all carpet and had oak flooring put in. The upper floor bathroom was completely redone putting in a new heated tile floor and all new fixtures. As well we tiled the bath surround area with subway tiles. New carpeting was laid on the stairs from the main floor to the upper floor.
The Strata was formed in 1992. The strata meets once a year or as needed. As things come up through the year decisions are often handled through consensus using phone or email. Each year a new council is elected with 3 of 6 strata owners serving. It is a nonintrusive and informal organization. We travel a fair bit yearly. Between the fence surrounding the entire property and watchful neighbors, we have always felt very secure to be able to just lock and go. The Strata has been pretty stable over the years with 3 current owners of about 15 years of residence. Unlike a lot of Strata’s, the yards, in our case the west and south facing yards, are owned privately by the individual strata lot. The Strata maintains the trees and shrubs over 6’ to keep the park like ambiance of the overall property. Water supplied by Saanich is a strata responsibility as part of our strata fees. The entire property has an underground watering system that the strata maintains. Other maintenance includes window washing and common property care. The driveway is technically the only common property (the strata manages snow plowing, power washing). Parking pads are considered limited common property except ours which are on our strata lot. Fees are currently $240 a month. In 2007 the strata replaced all roofs (40 year guarantee), painted the outside of all strata units, and re-fenced the entire property. Our house was stripped to the wood on 3 sides and its repaint completed in 2009. This major work was handled with supplemental one time only assessments. The strata philosophy has always been to keep fees low and deal with major projects through a one-time only assessment. There has only been one, the result of the extensive work in 2007.
The attached pictures give you a pretty good idea of what the house looks like inside and out. The lower and top floor are wired for Internet access. Wireless from the basement reaches all areas of the house with strong signal. Shaw cable is wired to every room in the house. Telephone is wired on all three floors.
We are offering courtesy to realtors as buyers agents at standard fees. For those who do not use a realtor a negotiated price can be more flexible.
Viewing can be arranged by appointment only.
Contact Information
Brian Phillips or Ann Mac Nevin
250-812-8021 Brian’s cell
250-479-9878 House home number
250-812-8079 Ann’s cell
brian@stewartphillips.ca