The Beginnings

Our acreage is located near Sechelt, a small seaside community northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia.  In 1975 we purchased 5½ acres of land close to town but still "in the bush" with dreams of building a self sufficient homestead.  Over the years we have taken a circuitous route to reach that dream.  The following is a pictorial chronicle of our journey.

To reach our acreage we originally had to travel down on old logging road which was built in the 1890's.  It was definitely hard-to-come-by! 

The property had originally been homesteaded before the second war.  We found an old hand dug well so our first project was to clean and crib it.  We then had to decide what to build for a house.     

We had wanted to build a geodesic dome but our only tools were a hammer, Swede saw, sharpened shovel (for peeling logs) and a butcher knife.  We also didn't have electricity so we decided to build a hexagon instead.   We had never built anything before so I made a cardboard model and we plunged ahead. 

We used saplings for framing material.  Flooring, roof shakes and exterior sheathing were salvaged.  Windows were from garage sales, auctions and the dump.

It was definitely a learning experience!

We moved in on February 14th, 1976.  Our house had cost us $500.  For the next 6 years we lived without electricity, telephone or running water.  As the years progressed rooms were added as needed to accommodate accumulated furniture and the need for space.  We added a bedroom in 1977 (the lean-to on the right side of the house). 

In 1978 we built a workshop that has become our guest cabin.

In the early 80's we finally put in power and  a telephone which meant building a better road for the power poles.   We had a well drilled so added a bathroom in 1986 and a living room in 1987.

An ample supply of water allowed us to develop our garden.  We were able to restore 2 original apple trees and planted grapes, walnuts, hazelnuts, raspberries, strawberries, tayberries, red and black currants, gooseberries, blueberries, apricot, cherries, pear, fig and a herb and vegetable garden.

In 1995 we felt we wanted to share the beauty of what we had created so began renovations on the old workshop.  We added a bathroom and front porch, scrubbed and painted the interior and transformed it into our Bed & Breakfast.  We now use it as our family & friends guest cabin.   

  The same view just after we finished. Furnished with my great-grandfather's sleigh bed.
We opened on Labour Day 1995.  In 2006 we spent 3½ months driving across Canada and back.  On our return we
decided it was time to close the B&B.  We have met many wonderful people and are thankful for the experience.