Sylvan Lake Hotels

Bwana_Brown
Reviews: 3530

5 out of 5 stars User Rating

4.5 out of 5 stars Helpfulness

Carolyn & Ryan's home: The new house!

This view shows the house nearing completion, although there is still some exterior siding to install on the upper level beside the large doors that open onto a small deck (railing still missing too!). By the way, while working through the day, we just left a case of beer out on the deck for 'natural refrigeration', so we could simply step outside if we needed a refreshing break! As garbage from opened construction packages accumulated inside, we would chuck it off the deck into the rear of the old white truck parked beneath it. When it was full, we would drive it down onto their field area and set the pile on fire.

By the time December arrived, priorities switched to getting the interior rooms finished so they could be lived in! The design of the house is to use the upper floor for living area (including 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom) while the lower left floor will be an entertainment room with washer/dryer and a small toilet at the rear. The two garage doors open into a large room that Ryan will use to house the equipment he needs for his welding job.

The concrete slab on which the house is built has plastic tubes installed in it with three zones of control for the hot water that circulates through the tubes to heat the concrete floor! It was nice walking around on warm concrete for once! The hot water system in the house was a first for me - there is no hot water tank. Instead, some new contraption immediately 'flash-heats' the water supply coming from the well as soon as a 'Hot' tap is turned on anywhere in the house!

The second two photos show the interior taking shape as we finished laying those floors and getting the window/door trim installed just in the nick of time. Their furniture, stored at Ryan's parents property south of Calgary, was delivered by his family on Dec. 21st, just as the house was ready to receive it!

Opinion of Price: N/A
Related to: Family Travel, Road Trip
Written January 6, 2008

Front view of house

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Bwana_Brown
Reviews: 3530

4 out of 5 stars User Rating

4.5 out of 5 stars Helpfulness

Chantel's cottage: A lucky break!

Ryan and Carolyn caught a lucky break in connecting with a local lady who was looking for someone to stay at her country cottage to keep an eye on things for several weeks while she was away. Through the summer the two of them had been living in a small old caravan on their own property with only a portable generator for electricity. With the onset of the cold weather in October they needed somewhere closeby that could deal with the fast approaching winter weather - and Chantel's cottage fit the bill very nicely!

The cottage was very well equipped with appliances, a wood stove, natural gas heat and a great view of the surrounding countryside from its hilltop perch. The second photo shows a typical sunrise, looking west toward the Rocky Mountains (the peaks were visible as well once the sun was truely up). Because they were looking after Chantel's three cats while she was gone (even though they had four cats and two dogs themselves!) there was no charge for their two month stay in the cottage! I spent a few nights there myself on both my November and December trips.

Opinion of Price: N/A
Related to: Road Trip, Family Travel
Written January 6, 2008

Ryan & Carolyn at the cottage and its outbuildings

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Carolyn & Ryan's home: The new house!

Chantel's cottage: A lucky break!

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