- 2 days ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00With its mountainous beauty and lush landscape, the Canadian countryside is as
00:05beautiful as it is breathtaking. Many Canadians are discovering rural life
00:12and they're making the move. We are helping them find their perfect country
00:17house. I love how lush it is, like there's definitely a lot of greenery, kind of
00:23magical. It's amazing, I feel like I'm in Barbee's dream house.
00:35Today we're in Armstrong, British Columbia, where we're going to meet up with Marcel and Christine
00:40to help them find the perfect country home that could also possibly double as a wedding venue.
00:45Let's see what we can find.
00:50Hello, hello. Hi. Great to finally meet you in person. Christine. Jeff. Marcel. Pleasure to meet
00:56you both. Finally. Now, I mean, we've picked the perfect day to go on the house hunt. We're
01:01going to see three very unique properties today. What is it that is an absolute must have for you guys?
01:08I really have always liked Armstrong. I like the pace of this town. You know, 45 minutes from the
01:13airport that's international, maybe three hours, four hours out of Vancouver. It feels like you're in the
01:18middle of nowhere, but you're actually logistically like quite close to everything. So it's really the
01:22the best of both worlds that way. We really want to do a wedding venue. That's been the hope.
01:27There's something really beautiful about sharing space with people in the biggest spaces of their
01:32life. I was on a date with a guy I met on Match.com and he thought it'd be a
01:38fun idea
01:39to look at the competition. He was going through all the guys on Match.com and I was going through
01:43the girls on Match.com and he points to Marcel's profile and he says, oh my gosh, I know this
01:48guy.
01:49This is an amazing Christian man. If it doesn't work out with me, you should date him. It didn't
01:54work out with him. And I was back on Match.com and there's Marcel's profile and I went, well,
01:59I guess I should try to get a hold of this guy, see if it could work out. We kind
02:03of have our second
02:04time around together. We just really want to be a part of someone's happily ever after. So we're
02:10really excited about that, finding the right place to host events.
02:15We grew up on acreages. We love that. We love the options of as big or small a garden as
02:22you want.
02:22We love the options of chickens and smaller livestock. Just the options to be able to do
02:27those sort of things. I would like to find a beautiful house with a barn that would be able
02:33to be used. I really like the idea of all season weddings. And I work in construction management.
02:38So I do a lot of renovation work. So every time I see a house, I see the possibilities and
02:41the options.
02:42But if we find a home that needs some work or some help, we can work with that.
02:46We've been playing with the idea of two to two and a half million. But that would be dependent on
02:52whether the land costs us money in adding to infrastructure or whether land actually
02:55has marketable potential and be able to give back.
03:03Located in the heart of North Okanagan, Armstrong blends its rich agricultural heritage with expansive
03:08scenic landscapes. And with cities like Kelowna just a stone's throw away, this rural gem offers
03:14the perfect escape for couples like Marcel and Christine to help bring their dream of a wedding
03:19venue and new home to life. So we know we need land. We want space for a wedding venue. We
03:26want
03:26potential livestock. This one is about 101 acres of land. So I don't know how big your wedding venues are,
03:33but I think we can fit everyone in there. It's overwhelming how much land comes of this property.
03:38It's a little close to the road and the road seems a little busy. Is that all terrible? I shouldn't
03:45say those things. Okay, let's redo it. I love the hardy plank siding and it's really a beautifully
03:51appointed house. Like just the details, the construction details actually. It's quality built
03:54and it's quality finished and it looks like a well-loved home. What do you say we go take a
03:59look at the
03:59house? That'd be great. Follow me.
04:11All right, welcome to house number one. What do we think? First impressions as we walk in the door?
04:16I love the woodwork. I mean the fireplace for me, very inviting even though it's about 40 degrees
04:21outside. I can't wait for the winter time. You guys get lots of snow here. You can actually sit
04:26there and enjoy it. I appreciated the layout. I always like things that are unconventional. It's
04:30cozy. It's got a little vaulted ceiling. Part of the coziness is because it does feel a little smaller
04:35perhaps, but that was my first thought as I walk in. Obviously big family. Got to see what the kitchen's
04:41like. You bet. Should we go explore? Sounds great. Yeah, come on.
04:47Welcome to the kitchen. I really like it. I like the hardware. It's beautiful. Yeah, it's classy. The
04:54details, the light details, the faucet details, the handle details are classy. It makes me think,
04:58oh, these people are similar to us. It's seldom that I get to walk into a kitchen where I find
05:04myself
05:04thinking, there's nothing I would change. And this was one of those kitchens. There's things you could
05:08change, but there's nothing that jumps out at you that needs to be changed. Dining space is a little
05:13small. How big is the family that's over? It's growing. We're into the grandparent age of life,
05:18so there's no telling where it ends. We don't have a big family living with us. It's just the two
05:23of us,
05:23but it's when big family comes over. So it might be an option to push it into the living room,
05:27like
05:28temporarily. Go explore a little more, take a look at the primary bedroom. I'm going to head around
05:32back and meet out there in about five, 10 minutes. Sounds great. All right. You guys go that way.
05:36I'll go this way. Thank you. I like the chandelier. I don't love it,
05:46but I can see why you like it. What I do love about this room is the multiple windows,
05:51and I always love windows on two adjacent walls because it just gets light all day long, which I
05:55love. The bed's a bit short. The bed's a bit. It's probably just missing the entire frame.
06:00We'll have our own bed. Yeah. The bedroom isn't, it's sort of neither here nor there. It's
06:04decent size. It's not huge. But then when you walk into the ensuite, it has a wow factor. It's got
06:08the clawfoot tub. It's got the nice hardware, classy vanity. Artistic. They're artistic and good,
06:14good attention to detail, I feel. And then if they can throw in the cow pitcher,
06:18I would be happy. His name is Ned.
06:30Hi. Well, finished exploring inside the house. And you explored
06:34outside the house. I tried. I mean, there's over 100 acres, so it's still got a ways to go.
06:39It does give us a lot of options and it's beautiful. Like everything about this is beautiful. It's like
06:43the heart of the whole valley. Every view in every direction is amazing. I liked that there is a shop
06:48that could be potential for a wedding venue, which is what we're looking for. There'd be ample room for
06:53parking here. I mean, you have fencing, but only in certain areas. So you'd have to add some fencing. I'm
06:58not sure what the water situation's like it. Yeah. So it's both, it's both more than we hope in some
07:02ways,
07:02and maybe less than we hope in other ways. What do we think this one's listed at right now?
07:08Land is a lot. Yes. Land is a lot, and you're paying for land here. So this will be on
07:12the higher
07:12side. So you think it's- I think 2.3. 2.3? That's my guess. Somewhere around there. Okay. You're
07:17both
07:17pretty close. It is a little bit high on the budget. I mean, you're getting over 100 acres. This one's
07:22listed
07:32at 2.6 right now. Okay. I don't mind stretching a budget if that has everything that I need. If
07:50I have
07:51to stretch the budget and still add to what I need, we'd have to do some digging into what some
07:55of the
07:56wild cards are and then have a price tag on that and sort of factor that all in. We don't
07:59have to
07:59make a decision right now. We still have two incredible properties to check out next. What
08:03do you say we head on to house number two? Sounds great. Follow me. Marcel and Christine appreciated
08:09the vast space that house one offered, but ideally they wanted something that felt a little more
08:14polished as a potential wedding venue. Well, this beautiful property I've got next might just be the
08:20perfect blend of charm and practicality that they're after. House number two. House number two.
08:27We've got a little bit of a forest and a little bit of the flat countryside. What do you guys
08:30think?
08:31Driving up to this place and coming down the treeline driveway, that was beautiful. I could imagine
08:35brides and grooms and all of their friends coming and having it just be this beautiful space to be
08:41driving into. What else is jumping out at you as we come down that long driveway? That log barn is
08:45beautiful.
08:46I think if we're wanting to do weddings here, this particular property would really be attractive to
08:52people. You come in, there's lots of trees, there's lots of shade, there's lots of different things and
08:56I love the potential of that log barn for a venue. Should we go take a peek inside? I think
09:01so. Yes, let's go.
09:15House number two. A little different entrance than house number one. What do you guys think? It's dramatic.
09:23It's kind of show-stopping. Yeah, gets your attention. It seems so much bigger with these high ceilings, which is
09:28nice.
09:29Yeah. You kind of come in and you look up and there's windows all up top that are really lit
09:33in so much light. Yeah, I noticed the windows everywhere and windows on different walls and
09:37there's a lot of French doors, so like double doors that are all glassed in the middle. I love the
09:42fireplace. I love how big the space is that you could get a lot of seats in and have lots
09:46of people
09:47over. The table is huge, so you could have so many people for dinner. Yeah. I like that idea too.
09:58This is a very big kitchen. Okay, good. I'll let you go first, but I mean if you're preparing for
10:04up to 14 people, it seems like. Yeah. You could have six of them in the kitchen at once. Yeah.
10:08Anything interesting jumping out at you? I know one thing caught my eye.
10:12All the sinks. There are three and a half sinks. Shocking. I've never,
10:16I've never been in a kitchen with three sinks. One for everyone in the family.
10:20Sink for you. Sink for you. Sink for you. I love the counter space. I love the storage space.
10:25But I love the stove. There doesn't seem to be a hood fan, so I don't know if it makes
10:31up for it.
10:32This one looks like it could be the exception. I like it. It fits. It fits the space.
10:36The primary's upstairs. Okay. Take your time and come find me outside whenever you're ready.
10:41Sounds great. Okay. See you in a bit.
10:50First thoughts? It is tiny. When we finally went upstairs to see the primary bedroom,
10:54it kind of felt like this tiny little room. It made me go, wait, do we go? Is this the
10:58right room?
10:59Closet space, big window, only one window. It has an ensuite.
11:03Barely. It's a small one. Jack and Jill. Yeah, it's quite small.
11:07What I thought was fascinating about the primary bedroom is there's not really any way to change it.
11:12We always think in renovations and we always think, oh, we just knocked down this wall because we're both in
11:16that world professionally, but there's no where to move. There's no walls to blow out.
11:20There's no walls to blow out. You can't move it because you blew out one,
11:22you're over top of the living room, and if you blew out the other, you're taken over a hallway,
11:25and it's just very small.
11:34Oh. Sorry, slacking on the job. I mean, how could you not? This is just so peaceful out here.
11:39You have views. Like, you have views looking down over the valley. That's another bonus. But how was
11:45the rest of the house? I feel like it's a lot more expansive than we thought just walking in.
11:49It's big. The master bedroom's a bit of a disappointment.
11:54Yeah? Why is that? It's really small.
11:56It's a little too tight. Yeah.
11:57This is only the second house. We're going to go see one more. Last one was listed around two, six.
12:02What do you think this one's listed for? I think like two million.
12:06Yeah, the land is a lot less here. Yeah. It's quite a contrast. I mean,
12:11a hundred acres and a smaller dwelling versus a few dwellings, a little less acreage.
12:15Two, maybe? Two, three? Would you believe me if I said it's listed for 1.88?
12:21Oh. Yeah.
12:23This house came in under our budget, so there's money to work with.
12:27It has minor upgrades and details that I'd want to correct, but we might be able to take some of
12:32that resource and put that into the barn. It gives us a bit of options.
12:36It's only house number two, though. There's still one more.
12:38Yeah. What do you say we head over to house number three?
12:40I'm excited to see it. Let's go.
12:41Me too. Awesome.
12:51Despite the tiny primary bedroom, Marcel and Christine loved the charm of house number two
12:56and the potential its log barn had for a wedding venue. But it's this next property that really steps
13:01it up. A quaint yet beautiful home with multiple barns that could be the perfect fit for their big
13:07plans. Well, we've made it to house number three. Wow. It looks like an old house, which I love.
13:15But very well capped. It's all clean and well done. But with the huge tall trees around here,
13:20just the way it's situated, it feels very established, like an established property.
13:23I would say curb appeal, but we're so far up from the curb. I did notice a lot of outbuildings,
13:28which was
13:28both interesting, but they seem to be kind of like congested. Yeah. Like it felt like a farm downtown.
13:33Is that a thing? We'll look at that later. But what do you say we take a look inside first?
13:37I'd love to. All right. After you.
13:48Opens right up into the kitchen. It's really nice. It's beautiful. It's still got farmhouse meets
13:54modern, which is really a cool look. French country farmhouse, really. Yeah. If you want to get specific.
14:01I really liked the open floor plan. I liked walking into the kitchen and having the two-tone cabinets.
14:07I really appreciate the storage they had in there. It feels very like, I don't want to say dated,
14:13but it does feel historic, but it's super clean, super contemporary at the same time. So it's really
14:18captured the essence of the farm style. What's interesting about this kitchen layout to me is that a lot of
14:23the
14:23counter space is actually bar space. And I don't know how prepping at bar height was like compared
14:28to counter height. So they have it elevated. Yeah. I'm thinking if it was all flat. The last one was
14:31all the same height. This one's just a lot of bar space. Oh, interesting. I mean, speaking of drinking
14:35space or whatever, the dining room right now, it's set up very small, but it could be bigger. But if
14:40you
14:40make the dining room bigger, your living room gets smaller because they're kind of sharing an imaginary
14:45divider. I mean, you could always do the shuffle depending on how many people are. That's true. But you never
14:49know how many people are just going to show up because it seems like people are just going to wander
14:52in at their
14:53will. So you kind of want to be prepared. So maybe you do need a little bit more space there.
14:57I'm going
14:57to go figure out where all of these different barn houses are. Do you guys want to go check out
15:01upstairs
15:02and check out all the bedrooms? Sounds great. If I'm lost, just ring the bell. I'll hear it and come
15:06running back. Sounds good. After you. Thank you.
15:17First thoughts? Yeah, it's a really nice room. The bedroom was a little bit small.
15:22Not as small as the second house. That bedroom was very small. Yeah, and it had beautiful windows,
15:28beautiful view. The walk-in closet was really decent. The one thing I noticed it doesn't
15:32actually have an en suite bathroom. It has it shared with the other two bedrooms upstairs,
15:38which is, it's just a thing. It's whether you want it or not. I usually want it. Most people
15:43usually do. En suite bath. I would miss that because I've had that the last number of years. It's just,
15:50it's just a bathroom location, which isn't a big deal for some, for others. I don't like to share as
15:57much
15:57as you do. Exactly. I like the floors. Yeah. I love the original hardwood through the whole house.
16:02It's beautiful. It just feels farmhouse, but it feels like clean, modern. It feels like stepping
16:05back in time without the dirt. And the hard work. Exactly. Where's Jeff?
16:18Jeff. He said to ring the bell. It's all yours. Oh, Jeffrey. Ah. Here you are. I see you found
16:27your
16:27way out. What was it like upstairs? The master bedroom's a little small and no on-suite bathroom.
16:34I did notice another bathroom, another beautiful bathroom on the main floor. And while I was
16:38exploring, I found a bathroom out there near the barns, which is actually quite interesting. I almost
16:43fell through the floor, but it's still operational. I do love that you could do
16:48weddings here. There's a beautiful riding arena there and you could easily have the receptions
16:53there. And then there's a couple of barns to choose from here. Big, beautiful garden,
16:58already deer fenced, like big, beautiful pens, lots of riding pens. If you wanted a farm wedding,
17:02you could do a farm wedding almost overnight. You could use the riding ring. You can use the outdoor
17:07space, the field space. But if you actually wanted a barn wedding, the barns need a significant amount
17:11of work. And a lot of work might include a bulldozer. Yeah. So. What do we think this one's listed
17:18for?
17:19I would say 1.9. 1.9. Okay. Yeah, it's got to be two something. Two, 2.1. Well, I
17:28mean,
17:28if you want a little extra cash to work on the dilapidated barns, listed at 1.8 right now. Oh,
17:36so we have some room to work. Yeah. I was surprised at the price of this. It's a bit of
17:40a wild card.
17:41I've renovated houses. I haven't renovated a lot of barns. And so I don't know what that would take
17:45as far as time. And if it's a structural issue, all of a sudden it doesn't end up having to
17:49be
17:49torn down or engineered or there's some some real kind of wild cards that I'm unsure of. It is nice
17:54to have the financial buffer. We don't need an answer now. Why don't you take some time? Think about it.
17:59I mean, they all have space for a wedding venue, but which one's really going to pop and which one
18:02do you want? I mean, you can put your own stamp on it. We'll circle back and we can make
18:07a decision.
18:07Yeah. Sounds great. I'll see you guys soon.
18:19With all three houses toured, Marcel and Christine have a big decision ahead. But before they choose
18:24the perfect property to set the altar, I'm heading over to FarmStrong Cider Co., one of Armstrong's local
18:30favourites to find out why this town's worth settling down in.
18:35Hi, I'm Jeff. I'm Hallie. Nice to meet you. That's my niece's name. That'll be easy to remember.
18:38So we are here at FarmStrong Cider Co. I could see it the whole drive up. It kind of stands
18:44out on top
18:44of all of Armstrong. How did this come about and when did you start it? July, it'll be our sixth
18:50anniversary, but my husband and I have been farming in Armstrong for 35 years and we thought we needed a
18:56little retirement project so that our kids could take over the other family farm. We were looking
19:01for a piece of property, found an orchard. I wanted to make cider, so we ended up with this 130
19:06-year-old
19:06barn. It is incredible. I mean, I walked through, it's massive. You could host a very large party in
19:12there if you wanted to. She's definitely a draw for people that come to the area. We try really hard.
19:17We raise all of our own proteins here and we source everything local and we just try to do a
19:22really good
19:22job and give people good value for dollar. I can tell everyone at home you do a great job because
19:28I've been here for a few minutes and I already feel like I'm never leaving. Awesome, that's good news.
19:33Armstrong in general, I mean, what's drawing people here to live here? Yeah, you know, more people are
19:38wanting to move out of the cities and they're looking for small acreages. We've got a great sense of
19:44larger farms, but then it's a great place for a hobby farm. I mean, the scenery, it's like you look
19:48off the
19:48balcony and it's just a painting. Then you come in here and it's an absolute party, so I think it's
19:52the best of both worlds. We're 45 minutes from an airport, so it's perfect. Oh no, this is dangerous
19:57for me. I might never leave. Now, if anyone wants to come, I mean, how do they find you? You
20:01google
20:02cider and Armstrong or the Okanagan and we should pop up. So you can come in and have dinner or
20:07lunch
20:07and a flight and then take some home as well. Well, thank you so much for having us and let's
20:11cheers.
20:12Thank you. Thank you. Well, I think it's safe to say it doesn't get much better than FarmStrong Cider Co.
20:19So much so, I've invited Marcel and Christine here to reveal their decision. Which of these three
20:24incredible houses will become their new home? Well, last time we were all together, we were on a house
20:31hunt. That was a fun day. It was a bit tricky though. I mean, I don't know which one you
20:34guys are going to
20:34end up picking. Why don't we start with house number one? I mean, 101 acres of property. After being on
20:41the
20:41second to the third property, I realized how few trees there actually were on it. I really like
20:45the kitchen. It was the more sort of finished and complete design kitchen. Just. It's a smaller
20:50house. It would be a tight squeeze. You've got extended family that just pops in. Where are you
20:55going to put them if they'd stay over? And it's the top end of our budget. If that was everything
20:59we ever
20:59needed, wanted, hoped and dreamed, you can stretch the budget. But when it's like most of what we hope and
21:05some of what we dreamed, it feels like it pushes it past possible. Now, moving over to house number two,
21:12I mean, if you wanted a little more trees, it looks like it used to be a Christmas tree farm.
21:16Yeah. Loved the drive-in. You just anticipate, what am I getting into? Because this is so pretty
21:21already. And then the first thing you see when you come down the driveway is that beautiful log barn.
21:26Works for the wedding venue. Pop those doors open. You've got a big field in front. Somebody could say
21:30I do. What about the actual house, the dwelling on the property? It's a big house. It's deceptive.
21:35Vaulted ceiling, big dramatic fireplace. Great space for family dinners. I can imagine all of those
21:41things, right? Where you can pack in a lot of people and not feel like you're sitting on top
21:45of each other. If I recall properly, there was about three and a half sinks in the kitchen.
21:50They did forget to put a gas stove in. And a hood fan. And a hood fan.
21:55What about house number three? If you're looking for barns, they have barns galore.
21:59Yeah, beautiful house. Love that it's an old house that's been restored. It's right up my alley.
22:04I love the open spaces. You walk in and it's kitchen, dining, living room all open. I love that.
22:09But it seemed a little tighter in the living space and the dining room space.
22:12It didn't have an en suite. That's a bit of a deal.
22:15Yeah. 95% of the land is totally usable, workable. It had big pastures in the back,
22:21riding ring, some optional extras that we wouldn't have been looking for.
22:25We hadn't really thought about. Yeah, I hadn't really thought about.
22:26Yeah, I mean, private enough too. You're on the road, but you're stepped back a little bit.
22:30You've got the trees surrounding you there. Yeah, it felt private.
22:32Yeah. If you had to eliminate one of the three so we could narrow it down to two,
22:37which one just might not work for us? I think the first one.
22:40I agree. Just a little too much land.
22:43Too much land, too much expanse, and then not enough house.
22:45Yeah, I mean, also high end of the budget. So if you really want to expand on that house,
22:49it's gonna be tricky. So we've narrowed it down. Which one's it gonna be? Number two or number three?
22:55We love them both, but we can't buy them both. So we're gonna go with number two. Number two.
23:05I'm not even joking. Once I saw that barn and just the whole open space, I thought this is perfect
23:11for a wedding venue. We got to call the realtor right away. I'm coming in as soon as it's ready.
23:15Awesome. Cheers. Cheers. Thanks, Jeff.
23:19I'm so happy Marcel and Christine said I do to their dream country home here in Armstrong.
Comments