- 2 days ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00With its mountainous beauty and lush landscape,
00:03the Canadian countryside is as beautiful as it is breathtaking.
00:09Many Canadians are discovering rural life and they're making the move.
00:14We are helping them find their perfect country house.
00:20I love how lush it is, like there's definitely a lot of greenery, kind of magical.
00:24It's amazing, I feel like I'm in Barbie's dream house.
00:37Today we're in the picturesque village of Cobble Hill, British Columbia.
00:43Ben and Tara are looking to find their dream home.
00:46On the wish list is a spacious home with extra room for guests to come and stay.
00:50My stepdad comes over from England for maybe two, three months at a time.
00:54Because you don't want him to stay forever, do you?
00:56Yeah, okay.
00:57We do not. We do not.
01:00They're on the hunt for their perfect home that's not only a close commute to school drop-off,
01:04but also fits their active lifestyles.
01:06We know you have an athlete or two in the family, so you've got lots of room for soccer back
01:11here.
01:11Our son would love to make a soccer field.
01:13Get the whole team out here every day.
01:15Maybe you don't want that many people on the property.
01:19Join us as we help Ben and Tara find their dream home in this beautiful corner of British Columbia.
01:27Hi, I'm Jeff Francis and today we are in beautiful Cobble Hill, Vancouver Island.
01:32Our goal is to help Tara and Ben find their perfect country home.
01:36I've put together three very unique properties that we're going to take a look at and hopefully by the end,
01:41they'll find their dream home.
01:46Now let's meet Ben and Tara, who met each other over 25 years ago.
01:50Back in our early 20s, you know, when you celebrate your birthday for a week,
01:54it was day three of my week-long celebration.
01:56And Ben was there with a mutual friend and said, come on guys, let's go dance.
02:01And Ben was the only one that said, okay, let's do it.
02:04A few days later, we went to a local swimming spot and so we reconnected there.
02:08Just hours went by and we just really sort of clicked at that moment.
02:14Ben and Tara are looking to accommodate the needs of their sporty children
02:18with shorter commute times and plenty of yard space.
02:21Our kids are very, very athletic, which we're very proud of.
02:25The kids go to school in Mill Bay.
02:27And with that, the commute is like 30, 35 minutes.
02:31Kids are really, really busy.
02:32So for me, it needs to be 10 minutes to the school.
02:35It has to be move-in ready.
02:37We've been living in a reno house for over 10 years.
02:40Often my stepdad will come out from England.
02:42Him to have his own area within the house, I think is important.
02:47Hoping to sort of find something, you know,
02:48maybe between one and 1.3 would be, I think,
02:51the range that we'll try to find something, I hope.
02:55We'll see you next time.
03:02Cobble Hill is a hidden gem on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
03:07Known for its breathtaking landscapes,
03:09this quaint village offers a perfect blend of natural beauty and outdoor activities,
03:14including hiking, wine tasting and fishing.
03:18It boasts a welcoming community atmosphere, making it an idyllic family town.
03:25Ben and Tara will find Cobble Hill to be a wonderful place to call home for many years to come.
03:34The first property I'm going to show our couple is this beautiful four-bedroom,
03:38three-bathroom, open-concept family home with plenty of space.
03:43Let's see if it ticks their boxes.
03:46Hi, Tara.
03:47Hi.
03:48I'm Jeff.
03:48Nice to meet you.
03:49Nice to meet you.
03:50Pleasure to meet you.
03:51Welcome to beautiful Cobble Hill.
03:54What kind of drew you to this area?
03:55Well, I work 10 minutes away from Cobble Hill, so it seems like a good fit for our family.
04:05I know there's always a few must-haves when we're looking for a new home.
04:08What's top of your list?
04:10We currently live in a reno house, and I really don't want to live in a reno house anymore.
04:14Yeah, turn the key, open the door, say no more.
04:18Yes.
04:18I like it.
04:18Room for, obviously, the trailer.
04:20Also, my stepdad comes over from England for maybe two, three months at a time.
04:25Where he can be in his own space.
04:27A door.
04:28Yeah.
04:30And if we're looking kind of budget range, were we thinking sort of 1 to 1.3-ish?
04:35Yeah, that's definitely, I think, about our range that we're kind of looking at,
04:37especially for this area, so.
04:39Perfect.
04:39Well, we're here at house number one.
04:41What are your first impressions?
04:43It's lovely.
04:44Yeah, it looks really nice.
04:45It looks well-maintained.
04:46I love the colour.
04:48The landscaping is great.
04:50I wouldn't change anything.
04:51It's low maintenance.
04:52From my perspective, there's not a whole lot that I really need to do for
04:55maintenance or anything else.
04:56There you go.
04:57No more reno's.
04:58Well, I don't want to jinx anything.
05:00We haven't been inside yet, but why don't we go take a look and see if it is
05:02quote unquote turnkey ready for you.
05:04Sounds good.
05:05All right.
05:12Okay, so we've come upstairs.
05:15This is probably where we're going to be spending the majority of our time.
05:19It's so bright.
05:20It is very bright.
05:21There's so many windows.
05:24Pretty open concept, I would say.
05:26Yeah, I like it.
05:27I really like the living space upstairs.
05:30It was very bright and open.
05:32I really love those vaulted ceilings.
05:34So much natural light.
05:39I think we should probably take a look at the kitchen because if that doesn't check the boxes,
05:43I think we might have to start over.
05:46So now we have the kitchen right here.
05:49Beautiful, again, open concept.
05:51Exactly what we were looking for.
05:57It is very nice.
05:59Gas range right off the bat.
06:00Waterfalls and countertop and everything is beautiful.
06:03So definitely see us like having like the whole family around here.
06:09Imagine cooking and having the kids doing their homework.
06:11Tell me about their day.
06:13Always the place that the family spends most time right here in the kitchen.
06:17So it's nice that it's not too boxy.
06:18It's open.
06:19But I do like that you're not totally open to the living room.
06:23That's exactly what I was thinking as I came in.
06:25Leave a few dirty dishes in the sink and nobody's going to see it.
06:28No one will see it.
06:28Yeah, yeah.
06:28All right.
06:29Well, why don't you check out the main bedroom.
06:30I'll go outside and scout out the backyard.
06:32Sounds good.
06:33Sounds good.
06:40Okay.
06:41All right.
06:42Very nice.
06:42Nice and roomy.
06:43So it's not huge.
06:48It's good size.
06:49I think it's not bad at all.
06:51And it's actually nice.
06:51You can actually go straight out into the patio here too.
06:53But it's lots of light in here as well.
06:57We're too busy to spend time in a huge master.
07:02For me, I think it's definitely taken off a bunch of those boxes along the way for sure.
07:07Should we go find Jeff and check out the backyard?
07:10Yeah, that sounds good.
07:10I'd like to see the rest of the house.
07:11Okay.
07:23Welcome to the backyard.
07:25There's huge trees.
07:26I love this.
07:28It's just so full of nature and the trees, they're grown so tall.
07:34We know you have an athlete or two in the family.
07:36So you got lots of room for soccer back here.
07:42There's a hot tub.
07:43Oh.
07:43So I'm actually shocked I'm not in it right now, but we can get there later.
07:47You know, we still have two more homes to see.
07:49What'd you guys think about the rest of the interior?
07:51It's great.
07:52Yeah.
07:52Looks like there's room for a guest suite there.
07:54Definitely some room for him to have his own sort of space down there.
07:57Like checking quite a lot of boxes.
07:58It really is.
07:59It really is.
07:59How much do you think it's worth?
08:01The magic question.
08:02Ooh, I'm thinking maybe 1.1?
08:05I'm thinking leaning a little bit more towards like 1.2, sort of in that range.
08:09Well, you guys could probably do my job because you're almost spot on.
08:12It's about 1.239.
08:14Okay.
08:16On the higher end of kind of what we're looking at spending, but definitely something to consider for sure.
08:22It's pretty good.
08:23You've done, you've done good.
08:24Well, hang on.
08:24Don't, don't say it yet.
08:25We still got two more homes to see.
08:27Okay.
08:27Okay.
08:27So why don't we go take a look at those next?
08:30Sounds great.
08:30Sounds good.
08:31Follow me.
08:34Up next, we tour this recently renovated home,
08:36and we discover that first impressions can be deceiving.
08:39It's definitely surprising compared to the outside.
08:42Yeah.
08:43That's why you don't judge a book by its cover or a house.
08:45Yeah.
08:56I'm here in the picturesque Cowichan Bay with our lovely couple Ben and Tara.
09:01We toured a stunning open concept home with a lush, verdant backdrop.
09:06Now let's explore our second property,
09:09a recently renovated gem that has all the features they could possibly ask for.
09:13Let's see what Ben and Tara think of this next house.
09:20Okay, so we've made it to house number two.
09:23Now this one fits quite a lot of the criteria on paper.
09:27Of course, we won't know until we get inside.
09:29It's about four bedrooms, three bathrooms, older original house, good bones on it.
09:35So from the outside, first impressions, what do we think?
09:38It's a little older than the first house.
09:41It looks like it's been well taken care of.
09:43But they've done a complete reno inside.
09:45So you're going to see a nice sleek, modern update.
09:48A fair bit of room in the driveway and all the rest here.
09:50So, you know, thinking about a trailer, you know, it's possible.
09:53We'll have to get the measuring tape out.
09:55Anything's possible, but we'll have to see.
09:58Yeah, I'm excited to see these reno's.
10:00Absolutely.
10:00What do you say we take a look inside?
10:02Sounds great.
10:03Let's do it.
10:09Welcome to house number two.
10:12As you can see, we've got the nice vaulted ceilings
10:15as you come in.
10:16Tons of natural light again, which is exactly what we were looking for.
10:19Beautiful reno.
10:20Yeah, definitely.
10:21Nice and bright.
10:22It's definitely surprising compared to the outside.
10:25Yeah.
10:26That's why you don't judge a book by its cover or a house.
10:31We've got the kitchen over there.
10:33You've got lots of exposure into the backyard.
10:36Big open concept, lots of room in there.
10:38They've really done a good job.
10:40Nice little look in the corner, but you've got a nice dining room area here too,
10:43which is really good, so lots of space.
10:45I noticed there was a pot filler.
10:47Oh, yeah, I did see that.
10:50That's fancy.
10:51Now, my question, who's the better cook?
10:53Or should we do that off camera?
10:56Who cooks more and who's better?
10:58Two different questions.
10:59We'll call it a tie for now.
11:01He cooks more.
11:02I think I'm a better cook.
11:04I just don't like cooking.
11:13What did you think about the family room we walked in?
11:15It was kind of, you know, open and bright.
11:17You've got views of the front yard.
11:19I liked it.
11:19I think, you know, it's nice and bright.
11:21It's very modern, but it is kind of separated from the rest of the house.
11:26So I'm going to go take a look around outside.
11:28If you want to head down this way, we've got the main bedroom.
11:31And while you're at it, don't forget to go downstairs.
11:33All right.
11:33I'll meet up in a second.
11:39This looks nice space in here.
11:41It's nice and bright and open.
11:44So it's a king-sized bed.
11:46So that fits in here.
11:47Yeah.
11:47Good bit of space.
11:48And the bathroom looks amazing.
11:50So yeah.
11:52The ensuite was unreal.
11:55I mean, that soaker tub.
11:57I mean, who wouldn't want to sit there?
11:58Jacuzzi tub, walk-in closet.
12:01I mean, they've obviously renovated really well here.
12:03Yeah.
12:04Absolutely.
12:04I'm surprised just how much room is in there.
12:06I like how the bedroom is at the end and the kids' rooms are just down the hall here.
12:11Yeah.
12:11We're pretty close in that regard as well.
12:13And I think if you have people over, at least you are sort of away from.
12:17Separated.
12:18It's definitely separated.
12:19A nice big window too, which is nice.
12:21Lots of bright light.
12:22They've done a lot of renos in here.
12:24I'm thinking that might make this place a little bit more out of our price range possibly.
12:28Out of our budget maybe.
12:30Yeah.
12:30Maybe let's go find Jeff, see what he's got to say.
12:33Sounds good.
12:33Okay.
12:34Let's go.
12:41Okay.
12:42What do we think about the rest of the house?
12:44They've done a great job.
12:45Yeah.
12:45The reno's great.
12:46We could just move in.
12:47And enough room downstairs to keep stepdad happy?
12:50Yeah.
12:50There's a lot of room down there, right?
12:52So absolutely.
12:53And the separate bedroom and everything else for sure.
12:55Now, is it too much room because you don't want them to stay forever?
12:59No.
12:59Okay.
12:59We do not.
13:00We do not.
13:02So I did a little snooping around the outside for you guys.
13:05They've got a really big front and side yard.
13:07Not too much in the back, but I've measured it out and there's definitely room to put a hot tub
13:12in.
13:12I have a guy.
13:13I'll let you know.
13:14There's room for one.
13:15That's good.
13:16So now the fun part, what do we think this one's listed for?
13:20They've literally redone everything in the house, which.
13:22I don't know.
13:22What do you think?
13:23I don't know.
13:23I'm leaning that it might be kind of more up in that one, three plus sort of, you know, area.
13:29So.
13:30One, two, five, maybe?
13:32Close.
13:32If you're willing to spend that on this, it might actually be a deal.
13:35This one's listed at 1.15.
13:37Oh, okay.
13:38Okay.
13:39Exactly.
13:39Could get a good deal on it.
13:42I was expecting more because the renos and the upgrades were quite well done.
13:47They did an exceptional job and it's a big house.
13:49Good value.
13:49I saw the master bathroom.
13:51I wouldn't be leaving there.
13:51No.
13:53Put a TV in there.
13:54I'm good.
13:54Just watch house hunters all day.
13:56Yeah, exactly.
13:58All right.
13:58So should we head on to house number three?
14:00Sounds good.
14:01Let's head out.
14:05Coming up, I meet with Michelle to chat about everything Cobble Hill.
14:11Then we'll explore our final property, a charming cabin-style home set on a sprawling acreage.
14:17Looking at it, it's a beautiful cabin.
14:19It definitely feels private.
14:21Yeah.
14:21Fresh air.
14:22No prying neighbors, so to speak.
14:31After enjoying some time at the Bay, you know I couldn't resist sampling some of the local wine.
14:37I'll be catching up with Michelle to discover what makes this region so perfect for cultivating grape vines.
14:43Hi, I'm Jeff.
14:44Nice to meet you.
14:45Good to meet you too.
14:46Thank you so much for having us.
14:47Now, tell me a little bit more about the vineyard.
14:48When did it start?
14:49And it's a family business.
14:51Yes.
14:51My mother, who was originally from Australia, and my stepfather, who was originally from Italy,
14:56they came to the island back in, I think, 87.
14:59They fell in love with the area and they rode their bicycles around and they came across the vineyard.
15:03They low-balled them on an offer. They took the ferry and there was a message on the machine,
15:08because there's no cell phones at the time, saying congratulations.
15:11Fantastic.
15:12So, they ended up coming here, yeah, and they planted the vineyard.
15:14Is Cobble Hill the ideal place to have a vineyard?
15:17Yeah, and in terms of temperature, like Cowichan Valley, which is where we are, this valley,
15:20we have the highest mean or average temperatures throughout the entire year.
15:29You'll find a lot of people around here have done what they've done other places.
15:33They're looking for someplace a little bit slower pace.
15:35People can really, they can go out or they can be complete hermits here.
15:38And my son goes to school here and then he got this really awesome grade three teacher
15:43and it was my half-sister's favorite grade three teacher 23 years before.
15:47If they're not going anywhere, it's because they like it here.
15:49Yeah, yeah, exactly. People don't stick around for a long time.
15:51Do you offer wine tasting on site or how does that work?
15:54Yeah, we have a small wine shop.
15:55Well, you're the expert. I'll follow your lead.
15:57It's all good.
15:58Perfect.
16:02I can't wait to show Ben and Tara this third and final property,
16:06a charming cabin-style home that exudes true country charm.
16:12All right, house number three. Now, this just screams house in the country.
16:17Yes.
16:17Yes, it does.
16:18I mean, you can see just by coming down the driveway, that's about a kilometer long.
16:21So hopefully it checks more of the boxes than you might think.
16:25What are your first sort of thoughts as we get up to the front door here?
16:28Looking at it, it's a beautiful cabin.
16:30You definitely feel like you're away from everybody else here, which is great.
16:34No prying neighbors, so to speak.
16:37Yeah, it definitely feels private. Yeah, fresh air.
16:40Seeing the log cabin was actually a nice surprise.
16:42Yeah.
16:43And it looks really nice.
16:46It really feels like that escape we were kind of wanting.
16:49Why don't we go inside and take a look?
16:50Sounds good.
17:02Now, I mean, if this doesn't scream country house, I don't know what does.
17:07This is a pretty remarkable country home.
17:10Yeah, absolutely. It feels very cozy and rustic.
17:14You know, I want to curl up on the couch, you know, in front of the fire.
17:17The woodwork is pretty impressive all the way through.
17:20Now, one thing I did notice on this listing, it doesn't have that fourth bedroom.
17:28We often house a couple of kids, so we do need that extra bedroom.
17:32It does have an open feel, but I still felt kind of wanted a bit more room in there,
17:37a little bit more space.
17:38For our size of family, I think it might have been a little too small for our family.
17:43I'm going to go check out back.
17:44You can check out the main bedroom there.
17:46And then down the hallway, there's a couple more bedrooms.
17:48And why don't we rendezvous in about five, ten minutes?
17:50Sounds good.
17:51Perfect.
17:59Okay.
18:00That's big.
18:02Yeah, it's actually surprising.
18:04This is a lot of space, which is great.
18:08I like the logs though. I think the logs are nice and cozy.
18:11It's a lot bigger than I would expect considering the living room.
18:15All right. Well, maybe let's see if we can find Jeff and kind of have a look around the rest
18:19of it.
18:19Sounds good.
18:20Okay.
18:28Welcome back.
18:30How did we like the rest of the house?
18:32The main bedroom is maybe a bit bigger than we need.
18:36So I would rather see that space allocated to the living area.
18:4610 acres is impressive.
18:48Our son would love to make a soccer field.
18:50Get the whole team out here every day.
18:51Maybe you don't want that many people on the property.
18:53So what do we think the price is?
18:55Ooh, it's tough because it's a big property.
18:57Yeah.
18:57Maybe 1.4 because of the property size.
19:01Maybe bigger, more?
19:02I'm thinking maybe a bit more like it's 10 acres.
19:04I'm thinking 1.5 maybe.
19:06I don't think it's higher.
19:07I don't know.
19:07We're not very good at this game.
19:08I think you're a little better than you think because it is 1.4.
19:11So I don't even know if you need me anymore.
19:17This is the size of the property.
19:18I expected it to be probably a bit over budget.
19:20A lot to consider too.
19:21Yeah.
19:22Well, pretty busy day.
19:24We've seen three very unique but remarkable properties.
19:27What do you say we give it a little bit of time?
19:29You can go have a think.
19:30We can catch up later and hopefully when we come back,
19:33you've decided on the perfect new country home.
19:35Sounds great.
19:36Sounds good.
19:40When we return, it's time for our couple to make the big decision.
19:44What's the ultimate decision?
19:46Well, I think...
19:56Ben and Tara have had some time to weigh their options.
20:02Now it's time to see if they've made the big decision.
20:06Hello again.
20:08Hi.
20:08Hi there.
20:09Beautiful place to make a big decision.
20:12Yep.
20:12Yep.
20:12So we had three pretty exciting, pretty unique properties that we saw.
20:16So first house.
20:20That one was really great.
20:22Obviously it had everything there.
20:23It was, you know, move and ready, turnkey really.
20:26So literally as we went through between the kitchen, hot tub, the yard.
20:30Yeah, you had me on hot tub.
20:31Yeah, exactly.
20:32Yeah, yeah.
20:33Yeah.
20:33It is nice to be able to turn that key, move right in.
20:35And the second house, which was, I feel like it was a little bit bigger.
20:41What did you guys think about that one?
20:42The neighbourhood was good.
20:45The renos were amazing.
20:46Yeah.
20:47I mean, you walk in and you feel, wow, okay, they've done a really good job.
20:50And there's a basement we can lock Percy up in the basement.
20:54I mean, he could see.
20:56Again, it could be a pro or a con.
20:58And then the third one, that one was really more, we're getting ourselves into the country.
21:01You've got tons of space.
21:05There's a lot of room you could add to it, of course, right?
21:07But...
21:07I mean, the kids are pretty incredible athletes, you know,
21:10shoveling hay and mowing the lawns.
21:12So yeah, exactly.
21:13Well, maybe it would work out for them.
21:14If Percy was to come stay with us, that's sharing our space and no offence,
21:18but that's a bit much.
21:20Yeah, you have to build him something out in the field there.
21:24What did you guys think about that property?
21:25Yeah.
21:26Beautiful property, you know, having 10 acres, lots of stuff you could do there.
21:29But realistically, like, it's gonna be quite some time before we'd be in a place to really sort of manage
21:33that.
21:34Yeah.
21:34If we had to eliminate one of the three, try and make the decision a little easier, which one would
21:38it be?
21:39I think the third house we could eliminate.
21:42It's a little bit too much land to work with there.
21:44But the reality is we just don't have the capacity to manage a property like that.
21:49What's the ultimate decision?
21:51Well, I think, yeah, yeah, number one.
21:59Looking at it, just the location, you're within five minutes walking into the village in Cobble Hill.
22:04When Percy's not in town, we might be stopping by from time to time.
22:08So just make sure the hot tub's nice and warm.
22:09But what do we think?
22:10Are we going with number one?
22:11Let's do it.
22:12Let's do it.
22:12Let's do it.
22:13All right.
22:13I'm excited.
22:13We'll call the realtor.
22:14We'll put an offer in.
22:15Awesome.
22:15Oh, hello.
22:17Well, I think our couple has found the perfect home with house number one.
22:23I'm confident that Ben and Tara will enjoy their new home, new life in Cobble Hill for many years to
22:28come.
22:29All the best, you two.
22:34All the best, you two.
22:34All the best, you two.
22:35All the best, you two.
Comments