Outdoor: Cliff Gilker Park

Social Recco:  Smoke On the Water

Living 150 feet from the ocean is #lifegoals. Vancouverites-turned-coasters Michel and Mary have managed to forge a new path that finds them doing just that (at least part time) on the Sunshine Coast.

The pair have owned their 650-square-foot cottage – nicknamed The Beach Cottage – for just over a year. Mary, a cello instructor at Vancouver Academy of Music; and Michel, owner and operator of his own architect firm Michel Laflamme Architect, split their time between their Kitsilano condo and their seaside paradise tucked away in Bonniebrook Beach. For those who aren’t familiar, Bonniebrook is between Roberts Creek and Gibsons.

Last year, Michel and Mary decided to start planning for their retirement by purchasing the cottage. Its prime location and need for only small aesthetic updates made the cottage the perfect second home. Now, this cozy cottage is an ideal oceanfront getaway.

This gorgeous coastal home brings to life the design sensibilities from both Michel and Mary, with careful attention paid to every nook and cranny of the cottage. The interior has a modern rustic feel. The all-white wooden interior is bright and airy, allowing for statement furniture and signature accent pieces, including an innovative firewood storage solution. Aside from beautiful contemporary furniture and accessories, the cottage boasts signature art pieces designed by friends of Michel and Mary. The space is finished off with a few sentimental family heirlooms like Michel’s dad’s old tool trunk and Mary’s grandfather’s birdwatching binoculars. Coupled with a 200-square-foot deck for lazy summer days and evenings entertaining, this is an absolute gem.

While Michel and Mary try to spend as much time as possible at their second home, they get help with their mortgage by renting it out via Airbnb. The cottage is so popular that they need to book the space for their own personal use well in advance!

And who wouldn’t want this life? Ocean swims, toes in the sand and beach bonfires (outside of fire ban season, of course). Homemade crabcakes made from fresh-caught fish from a neighbour. Delicious patio meals comprised of curated artisan foods from the Gibsons Public Market.  Dining out experiences like Smoke On the Water, Nova Kitchen and Smitty’s Oyster House.  Eagles soaring overhead and the subtle sound of trees rustling in the breeze. All this and more make up the unique sights and sounds of the Sunshine Coast that we all hold dear.

“I change when I come here. I really do,” says Mary, speaking of that welcome shift we all enjoy, our shoulders dropping with every minute that passes on the ferry. The transition from urban rush to easy going coastal living is a sweet reprieve from fast paced city life.

Michel – a Vancouver resident for 35 years – has been coming to the Sunshine Coast for almost as long. His 3 reasons for moving to the Sunshine coast are simple: the physical and mental distance from the city that the short ferry ride brings, the swimming, and the people.

He recalls the days when the majority of ferry passengers to The Coast were loggers and fishermen. In his opinion, while the demographic makeup of the Sunshine Coast has changed, the thing that has maintained is the warmth, friendliness and down to earth nature of the people in this community.

Michel is so taken by The Coast, that for the first time in his firm’s history he’s paying to advertise on the Sunshine Coast so he can gain more clientele and work closer to the cottage.

So what has blown them away the most since they’ve been spending more time on the Sunshine Coast? Well, it’s really as simple as those lazy summer nights on their large patio deck watching the world go by. But, a close second, says Michel, is sharing all this with friends and family.

And that, my friends, is #lifegoals at its finest.

Are you interested in learning more about making the move to the Sunshine Coast? Contact me a for a consultation.

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Each year, the Sunshine Coast welcomes new year-round residents who have unearthed the secret of “going coastal”. In this Making It Work On The Coast blog series, we’ll get to know our new neighbours, who are fast becoming part of the fabric of our community. I’ll discover their inspirations for moving to the Sunshine Coast, and the homes, lifestyles, and careers they’ve built in our amazing neck of the woods.

Location: Elphinstone

Outdoor: Flume Beach

Social Recco:  Basted Baker in Sechelt

If you ask anyone who’s recently moved to the Sunshine Coast what their top tip is, they’ll tell you to join the Gone Coastal Facebook Group – a resource and community-building connection point for newbies to The Coast. So today, you’ll meet the brainchild behind the group and hear the story of how she and her family have Gone Coastal.

Picture this: By day, you meander through your immense backyard – which is on the side of a mountain. While the kids play, you and your husband dream up big ideas like orchards and underground cheese cellars – lofty dreams to fill a blank canvas of land. At night, you fall asleep looking up at the star-drenched sky through your bedroom skylight.

Yes, this life exists – and it’s the real deal for former Vancouverites Grace Carter and Clinton McDougall and their two beautiful children Juniper and Josephine.

Almost one year ago, Grace and Clinton made the move from the hip, eclectic urban Commercial Drive to Elphinstone, a rural neighbourhood between Gibsons and Roberts Creek on BC’s Sunshine Coast. It was a big change moving from a 760 square foot space in East Vancouver to a 4,100 sq. ft. house on a 21 acre property that takes 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

Despite the massive change, Grace finds living on The Coast a soul-nourishing experience.

“I found it really centring and relaxing to move to so much green space,” she says. “Also, with children I have found it to be a huge relief because I didn’t realize there was so much latent anxiety moving children around the city.”

Clinton, who is co-owner of Bestie Restaurant in Vancouver, recently started up Vancouver’s first cider company, Sunday Cider, and aspires to one day grow and harvest his own apples. The goal was to find a place close to Vancouver and the ocean, that had land big enough to start the orchard.

The Sunshine Coast has been a happy medium, allowing Clinton to commute four days per week to work in the city.  Grace, Director of Internal Communications at Hootsuite is currently easing back into the 9-5 after her second mat leave and hits the city once per week for work.

“It’s a really lovely balance to have a urban existence and a rural existence,” she says, adding that the constant nagging of FOMO just isn’t as impactful when you’re on Coastal time.

Their land in Elphinstone has ample space for gardening and the secondary dwellings on the property serve as mortgage helpers. Most importantly, there’s space for an orchard. Although there is much more work to be done before the orchard is up and running, Grace and Clinton are enjoying the journey and learning experience of clearing land and preparing the soil.

One of the things that stands out to Grace is the village style living in her community. Giving is the common currency; whether it’s caring for a neighbour’s cows while they’re out of town, or trading ingredients. Unlike the fast-paced – and sometimes isolating – city life, accepting generosity comes without guilt and is always reciprocated. She talks about her Crappy Dinner Parties (CDP) – a tradition with a neighbouring family that involves last minute, pop up dinners requiring no prep and little effort, but always resulting in wonderful memories and great fun.

Grace and her neighbour Jacqueline are planning to document their coastal lives at gonecoastal.blog. It’s a passion project that will explore the lives of two urban women gone rural as they learn to make things with their hands, grow food and children, and connect with their spiritual selves.

 So, aside from her personal experiences, what wisdom does Grace have to impart on future Coasters?

 “I think this community has so much potential. I want people to know that this is possible and it’s magical to live here,” she says. “I want young amazing people to come here.”

 I couldn’t have said it better myself!

 Are you interested in learning more about making the move to the Sunshine Coast? Contact me a for a consultation.

____________________________________________________________________

Each year, the Sunshine Coast welcomes new year-round residents who have unearthed the secret of “going coastal”. In this Making It Work On The Coast blog series, we’ll get to know our new neighbours, who are fast becoming part of the fabric of our community. I’ll discover their inspirations for moving to the Sunshine Coast, and the homes, lifestyles, and careers they’ve built in our amazing neck of the woods.