Our Home

There is a photo gallery at the bottom of the page – click on any picture and it will enlarge allowing you to scroll through the pictures.

Where are we?

Our home is located in the District of Oak Bay, a suburb of Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia.  It is about 4 km from the centre of Victoria, and  has a main street that gives it a truly village-like atmposphere.  It is situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island (about 100 km south of Vancouver, the largest city in BC) and has the most benign climate in Canada.   Summers tend to be warm and dry and winters mild and wet.  Our home is at the end of a cul-de-sac and very secluded and quiet.

This map shows location of Oak Bay, not our home.

About the House

General:

  • The house is a single level rancher (with a partial, undeveloped basement) built in 1948 with several Art-Deco features.  There are three bedrooms although we normally use the third bedroom as a study.
  • The heating is hot water radiators in every room with the heat provided by an electric furnace.
  • The garage is quite small, but fits our small SUV.  There is parking for up to 3 cars in the forecourt.
  • The garden is a principal feature of the house having been  on display for several public functions and featured in a gardening magazine.
  • There is a hot tub (spa) in the back garden.  It is normally emptied from mid-May until mid-September.
  • Exchangers will find a binder with details about running the house, maps etc. to make their stay as easy as possible.

The Living Area:

  • The lounge has comfortable seating for 8 and looks out over the back garden and patio.  An electric pseudo fireplace is really only for psycholgical warmth!  There is a 32″ flat screen television with many channels available on cable as well as Netfix through AppleTV.
  • The dining area is contiguous with the lounge and has a table that can be extended to seat 10 persons comfortably.  Again, it looks out over the patio and back garden.

The Kitchen:

  • The kitchen is bright and compact with a small nook for casual dining looking to the front (East) of the house.  It was totally refurbished in 1993 and given a facelift in 2016 with rejuvenated cupboards, floor and appliances.  The range is an electric Jennair with excellent downdraught fan and a choice of 4 rings or two rings together with either a griddle or an indoor BBQ.
  • It is fully equipped with many appliances including a dishwasher.

The Bedrooms:

  • The master bedroom is at the North end of the house and looks out to the garden and patio.  It has a fully self-contained en-suite with shower.  There are two closets, the larger of which is normally locked off when we are home-exchanging.
  • Two other bedrooms are at the other end of the house and each features a Murphy (wall) bed that stores away during the day if desired. The larger one’s bed is an extra length (78″) double bed and the room loks out over the back garden.  There are two comfortable chairs and closet for your use.  The smaller room is normally used as an office/ironing room but has a standard double bed and can be used as a bedroom.  It looks out to the front garden.  The closet in this room is normally locked when we are home-exchanging.
  • A full bathroom with bath/shower is adjacent to these rooms and also contains the washer and drier.

Photo Gallery