We can’t complain about the weather we have had this summer in Calgary, but the lack of lakes to enjoy it by are another thing. This August long weekend me and my wife decided we needed to be lakeside. After searching on MLS and other vacation sites we came across “the artists studio” just outside on Nelson B.C. on the Kootenay Lake. It turned out the cabin is actually a modern guesthouse for whoever is going to purchase the lake front property. The set up was studio style as the name suggests and the kitchen/bedroom/living room were all one area with a separate laundry/bathroom. It was elevated just enough to see the water while enjoying your morning coffee or evening cocktail and it was the start of a 200 plot village.

Just to get there you needed to take a small ferry (7mins) across to a town called proctor that consists of a general store, a bakery and a community center. The village had 200 kms of mountain bike and hiking trails that were just built and landscaped. There were a number of modern lakefront houses built but not a lot of people kicking around. A couple highlights were this 7million dollar house on the lake and the plot beside consisting of a $20,000 Mongolian yurt.

This was an example of how interesting this uncrowded lake community was. The director and land developer of the village also owned the cabin and let us use his bikes, kayaks and fishing boat at our leisure. We took the fishing boat across the lake to a bar/restaurant where you dock your boat and have dinner and drinks on the patio. If we had any money to invest we would have bought this lot in a heartbeat. The cabin offered a place to vacation until we could afford to build the house on the lakefront. This would also be a great place to head to for the winter as it’s only about 40kms from whitewater resort, which gets excellent snow and has great terrain.  The only down side to this spot was the 7hr drive from Calgary that made it hard to justify for a weekend. Time did go by fast as more than half of the drive is along mountains and lakes, with a 25min ferry cruise that takes you right to Ainsworth hot springs. Proctor is only 35kms from the town of Nelson where you can dine at any of the 52 restaurants make sure to have breakfast at Oso Negro coffee shop. If you are looking for a relaxing vacation lakeside check out www.bctrip.com and check out the “artists studio”