January 2009 Archives

It's not about the house

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East of the Sun

East of the Sun is a lakeshore property situated on the west side of Okanagan Lake in West Kelowna. The property is approximately  1/2 acre in size and has 115 ft. of lake frontage. The house sits on the back portion of the lot and is fairly level. A 20x40 ft. swimming pool lies between the house and the bank to the beach. The difference in elevation between the pool and the beach lawn is 46ft. A road wide enough for a 4x4 curves down to the beach.. The beach is sandy with a post and timber wall dividing the sand from the lawn area. A dock 104 ft. long reaches out from the west property line. This dock is 6ft. wide and flares out to 8ft. wide for the last 24ft. The water is 10 ft. deep off the end for most of the summer. A Shore Station boat lift with a steel roof occupies space on the west side of the dock for boats up to 20ft. This lift has an electric motor for raising the boat.

Thumbnail image for Okanagan Valley The other main feature of the property is the beach cabin. This 12X 16ft. frame building has a steel roof and a mix of siding and cedar shakes and lots of glass for views of the beach and lake. The cabin is equipped with a fridge with ice maker and a sink with running water. A counter with cupboards under and drawers provides space for cutlery and pots and pans etc. A double size hide-a-bed ( chesterfield ), table and four chairs and an easy chair make up the furniture. Most cooking is done on a portable barbeque that is stored in the shed at the rear of the cabin. Two can sleep on the hide-a -bed and two on an air mattress on the floor. There is a tent space on the east corner of the beach near the willow tree for additional sleeping space.Escape to the beach cabin at East of the Sun.This lower part of the property has a fine lawn area with automatic irrigation. A huge wonderful maple tree stands in front of the cabin and provides shade for the cabin and lawn area in front for the hottest part of the day. The property faces due south so you get the rising and setting sun.

One nice feature on the beach is the fire pit. It consists of a steel welding ring about 30 inches in diameter and about 16 inches deep. This ring sits imbedded in the sand near the retaining wall and is ideal for small fires. It has a steel circular grill and can be used for barbequeing. This arrangement makes small fires legal with local by-laws.Small fire pit I burn very dry wood and try to keep smoke at a minimum so as not to polute the local air quality.The shed at the rear of the cabin provides storage space for the electric lawn mower. barbeque. chain saw and garden tools etc..A permanently connected hose stays coiled on the east side of the cabin. The lawn and plant irrigation system has a small automatic timer mounted on the wall inside the cabin. The summer before last I replaced the old aluminum cabin door. My daughter replaced all her windows and doors in her house so I managed to salvage a nice outside cedar door with small glass panels. I managed to cut half the old slider out and install a new soor frame and metal threshold. I installed that nice cedar door in that new frame and gave it some sanding and three coats of varnish. That door looked so nice I decided to complete the job by000_0013.jpg Inside beach cabin at East of the Sun installing rough cedar casings ceiling trim and baseboards. The cedar trim was siding that I ripped to the size I wanted and I left the rough side out and unpainted so it has a nice effect and goes well with the wall paneling.

Snowed in at the Lake

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Beach cabin in winterCan you imagine how cosy this place would be if it were a real house with a nice fire place and all the amenities of a real home but alas it's just a summer cabin and built for warm weather.

The issue is access, since the beach house is located 140 feet beneath the main property down a steep, narrow dirt road, which more closely resembles a path than it does a driveway for a car. However, it wouldn't take, too much to heat the little cabin and I suppose it would be enjoyable on a sunny winter day, for a cup of hot tea and to read a book for awhile. It can get very quiet beside the lake in the winter, if the wind is calm but you can really hear the water fowl and any other critters that remain for the winter. Very peaceful on a calm winters day.

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This page is an archive of entries from January 2009 listed from newest to oldest.

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