Thursday, October 8, 2015

Games Afternoon

Had lots of fun at our semi-annual "Games Afternoon" today, with women playing their choice of mah jongg, bridge or canasta.  Our usual mah jongg foursome joined in:


Wednesday, October 7, 2015

How Vancouver is Changing!

As our friends and family know, we sold our home in the spring of 2014 and moved out in July 2014, after living there for 34 years.  During that 34 years, we redid every room and the roof about 3 times, built a gorgeous deck at the back, upgraded the windows, painted the exterior many times, planted many, many trees, and had gorgeous garden beds in the back where we entertained around the pool. But getting older and with more physical disabilities, we had to move into a one level condo. Here are some pictures of our former home:




I have driven by our former home many times in the last 14 months and saw the demolition begin about 3 days after we moved out, the excavation of the site, the building of the foundation for the new home, the structure going up, the outside finishing and the landscaping.  It was finished within the past 3 weeks. And then last week I noticed a "For Sale" sign out front and took this picture:


So being curious, I looked the listing up online, and found that it was listed for $8,780,000 (unbelievable!). It is described by the realtor as:

"WORLD CLASS MANSION, MAGNIFICENT CUSTOM BUILT QUALITY HOME, TRULY "ONE OF A KIND". Almost 5,500 sq.ft sits on BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPED level lot 66' x 120'. Supreme finishing throughout, full attention to detail, finest interior décor provides feeling of luxurious mixed classic/modern living. Foyer with high ceiling opening onto entertaining sized living & dining. 6 bedrooms & den, 7.5 baths, large gourmet kitchen & high-end cabinetry & appliances, large Island with granite counter top. HOME THEATRE, GYM, WINE CELLAR, SAUNA STEAM BATH, ADVANCE HOME SMART SYSTEM, RADIANT FLOOR HEATING, A/C, HRV. Here are some realtor pictures:




 
It is gorgeous for sure, but that asking price is beyond what virtually all Canadians could afford.  This is quite sad.  Imagine having 7.5 bathrooms!  Preposterous!