Canmore, Alberta

Harvie Heights

Classic Alpine Home For Sale

Looking for that unique mountain home that actually has a good-sized lot and no interior drywall?? This is the one! This Lindall Cedar Home has 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, dining room, a large, split-level living area and a fully developed basement that includes 2 recreation rooms, wine storage and a sauna. A large front yard borders onto green reserve, and a rear fenced yard and patio is equipped with a stone BBQ, firepit, planters and fish pond. Walk out the back yard and into the Harvie Heights community recreation area, which includes tennis courts, skating rink and playground. Absolutely perfect for any family wanting to live in a safe and intimate community with nature at your doorstep, yet still close to the amenities of Canmore. Contact your agent today. Disclosure: listing agent related to seller.

Harvie Heights is a small residential community just north of the Trans Canada Highway about 100 km west of the city of Calgary, Alberta. The valley of the Bow River is completely surrounded by mountains ranging from 3050 m high.

The source of the Bow River is Bow Glacier and Bow Lake to the north of Lake Louise on the majestic glacier-studded Canadian Rockies that stretch north toward the Columbia Icefields — the largest remnant (325 km2) of the ice sheet that covered most of North America during the most recent glacial period some 8000 years ago. (The Columbia Icefield is a true "continental divide," for its melt water feeds streams and rivers that pour into the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans.)

The Icefield Parkway, nearby, is one of the world's most spectacular mountain highways featuring unsurpassed mountain scenery paralleling the Great Divide, including the Columbia Icefields, the Bow, Crowfoot, Athabasca and several other glaciers, Athabasca Falls and Peyto Lake. Grizzly and black bears, moose, caribou and other large wildlife frequent this area.

In the early 1950's Walt Disney and his film crew, while shooting scenes for a film, camped on a hill overlooking the Bow Valley where the Hamlet of Harvie Heights is today. Canmore, our nearest town, with a population of 12000 is conveniently only 5 km away, making Harvie Heights a delightful, quiet, secluded hamlet. This rustic settlement nestled in the forest on a south-and-therefore-sun-facing slope has neither sidewalks nor street lights, the absence of which affords an additional measure of privacy to the residents. Nearby, the self-contained resort destination town of Canmore, offers a complete range of shops and conveniences including a hospital, approximately 20 doctors, dentists, a ‘wellness centre,’ a provincial court, as well as several public and private English, French and Catholic schools. A five-minute ride each way, school buses pick up and deliver children to their homes. This historic town boasts a rich cultural heritage, as many of the area residents speak Dutch, German, French, Italian or English, and is home to citizens who hail from most European countries, as well as the Orient, South America and Africa.

During the 1950s and 60s a number of people bought building lots in Harvie Heights and built weekend cabins. The Trans Canada Highway runs along the foot of the hill, and the entrance gates to the Banff National Park are only one km west of Harvie Heights. The Banff town site— the world renowned year-round tourist centre is only 17 km distant.

A number of artists including ceramicists and weavers settled on Harvie Heights in the early years; some still live here and are members of the artist guilds in Canmore. Today several authors reside there too. Of the 90 lots on Harvie Heights about 50 are permanent homes today, and were settled over the years by people of all walks of life who appreciate quiet and nature and enjoy the outdoors. These include engineers, doctors, lawyers and judges who practise their professions either locally or in the city of Calgary, 100 km to the east.

Harvie Heights receives an average of 245cm of snow each winter, and after a heavy snowfall one commonly puts on one’s cross-country skis at the front door and skis several trails leading into the surrounding mountains or the valley of the Bow River. In 1988 the Nordic Events of the Winter Olympic Games were held just outside Canmore, and today we benefit from the legacy of having some 90 km of ski trails that are maintained, as well as a biathlon shooting range a mere 8 km from Harvie Heights. After a heavy snowfall I use our 8 hp snow blower to clear our driveway, then rush indoors to relax in the sauna.

Wildlife abounds in the forest around Harvie Heights. Included are bears, wolves, the occasional cougar and coyotes; also white-tailed deer, mule deer, rabbits, squirrels and elk. To the east of Canmore a herd of Rocky Mountain Sheep can be seen virtually every day in the autumn licking salt from the 1A Highway by Gap Lake. Grouse, mallard ducks and Canada geese are common in this area too, while trumpeter swans and snow-geese frequent a small lake a few kilometres east of Harvie Heights. Bow hunting is allowed in certain areas of the Bow Valley, but rifle hunters need to travel somewhat further, outside the immediate vicinity. Bird-watching is popular in our area, as a host of species use this valley for temporary stops on their annual north and south migration routes. Harvie Heights is a favourite haunt of hummingbirds during spring and summer, particularly the Archilochus colubris. There are many kilometres of hiking trails in the area, and it must be emphasized that it is perfectly safe. This year-round dramatic, natural recreational setting offers river rafting, canoeing (lakes and rivers) or picnicking and walking on the shores of such breathtaking natural alpine lakes as Lake Louise, Emerald Lake, Peyto Lake or the warmer and shallower lakes in the Bow valley. There are several therapeutic hot springs to soak in, in this area, whether it’s 30ºC or -30ºC, and fishing, bow-hunting, camping, climbing for both experienced or novice climbers, hiking and adventuring for the whole family in spring, summer and autumn months. During the six winter months both alpine and Nordic skiing (the former at world famous ski resorts such as Mount Norquay, Sunshine, 20 minutes from home, and Lake Louise about 45 minutes drive,) and the latter at the Nordic Centre. Ice-climbing (waterfalls and cliffs), snow-shoeing, skating as well as ice-fishing and winter camping are other popular outdoor recreation activities. For individuals and families who do not participate in indoor or outdoor sports, this is one of the most beautiful areas of the entire world. Living here every day feels like a holiday. Every year we experience several warm Chinook winds that blow over the Rockies from the west; these winds can raise the temperature from - 30ºC to +10ºC within a few hours, thereby providing a welcome respite during a cold winter.

The Canmore-Banff area is known to be the home of the well-educated Canadians. Many people living and enjoying nature here have Masters’ degrees or PhD’s, but prefer to live in close contact, in fact as part of unspoiled nature. As a consequence people in this area have a great concern for nature, and environmental impact studies and elaborate debate by the general public invariably precede any new development receiving approval. European family and guests to the area have often remarked on how friendly and approachable the people in this area are; that seemingly everyone participates in some physical activity to keep fit, from Nordic skiing, jogging, outdoor pursuits etc. Appreciation and support of the arts and culture is at a high level, with several performing arts companies putting on stage plays involving high level amateur actors and actresses at regular intervals every year.

Mirjam and I have over the years found (and several were pointed out to us by visiting family from Europe) a number of distinct advantages we benefit from living here in Alberta. In this time of rising natural gas and gasoline costs the Alberta Government is subsidizing our heating fuel (natural gas) as well as our gasoline costs. This happened a year or two ago when fuel prises were high, and again this year. In particular, subsidies based on the amount of natural gas we use to heat our homes, will be paid to every resident of this hydro-carbon rich province.

Here is your opportunity, not only to buy a home, but in effect to start a new life in the Canadian Rockies, away from the pressures and your traditional busy life in crowded Europe; in this unique and wonderful Harvie Heights wilderness environment, within commutable distance from the towns in the area as well as the city of Calgary. (population in excess of 1 000 000 and having the distinction of being Canada’s fastest growing city.) This house is ready to move into; no further investments are needed, and no refurbishing. You can move in and start enjoying it right away. Just think: no plumbers, no construction site and no builders.

The value of homes in the Bow valley are constantly rising, as almost all the land zoned for development has been used up. This makes the acquisition of a home in the Bow valley a good investment, both short and long term. Building lots in the various areas of Canmore are generally small, averaging 550m2, but those on Harvie Heights are all at least 1100m2. These larger lots on Harvie Heights (formerly teasingly called ‘snob hill’ by Canmore residents) are understandingly in greater demand for distinctive and more exclusive homes.

Our 30-year old, immaculate, 501.39m2 executive style, open concept home, built by a Dutch contractor for a Flemish/Afrikaans family (my wife, Mirjam hails from Brugge) is located on a 1128.77m2 manicured lot with rear patio at 232 Bow River Drive, Harvie Heights. This is one of the finest and cosiest homes in the area, built to suit the taste of the European executive, designed for entertaining guests and which boasts the spacious richness and warmth of cedar ceilings, oak floors and knotty pine walls throughout. Oriental carpets tend to emphasize the warmth of the home. Directly behind our home on the Harvie Heights Community Grounds is the Community Hall, also a well-equipped children’s playground, an open-air ice skating rink a tennis court and family barbecue area. In front of our home is a forest reserve which can never be developed and ensures privacy from that direction.

Our lot is pie-shaped: 150 feet long and an average of 81 feet wide = 12150 ft2. = 1128.77m2.

House 345.6m2 3,720.01 ft2

Garage 66.89m2 720 ft2

4 balconies 88.9m2 956.91ft2

Home total area: 501.39m2. 5,396.92ft2

The annual property taxes amount to about $3,900. Presently each Harvie Heights lot with a permanent home has its own drilled water well and underground sewage system, but infrastructure work is presently in progress to connect each home to the water and sewage plants in Canmore. Every home is supplied with natural gas for its central heating furnaces as well as fire-place starters.

For more information and pictures, please visit: http://rackbox.glek.net/mylistings/canmore/office_pages/00610/Listing.php?id=24162

Owners: Pieter Grobler or Mirjam Grobler-Vander Cruysse, 232 Bow River Drive, Harvie Heights, Alberta

FEATURE PRICE... $962,000CDN, $826,247USD, £466,594GBP, 680,233EUR. CALL Dr. Hugh Notman (our son-in-law) (403) 678-7947, or Email: hugh-notman@coldwellbanker.ca