Erlton Bluff Townhouses (not "Earlton")

Only five lucky families get to live in these spacious ultra-modern townhouses atop the Erlton hill and backing on to St. Mary's Cemetery pioneer's section. The south property line abuts an unneeded road right of way, so that's a city-maintained park, making this a quiet location.

These special townhouses were built in 1996 on a design by local architect Jeremy Sturgess, who also designed two spectacular infill houses across Erlton Street at 55 and 57 Thirtieth Avenue. Only one of these townhouses has ever come on the resale market, so take a number..... you're behind me. The drive-under garages take two cars plus toys (bikes, kayaks, whatever), plus one more vehicle fits easily on each of the exposed-aggregate driveways. Including those lower levels, which also accommodate a rec room, the homes are 2,643 to 2,785 square feet, with the home at each end being the larger two.

Each home has a 1,000-square-foot main floor with 10-foot ceilings and and a soaring open central entry/stairwell space extending 25 or so feet to the sloped roof. The vaulted upper-floor ceiling gives a loft-like feel, brightened by a skylight. Each home has a deck and also a back yard overlooking the cemetery with glimpses of the mountains beyond, with even better views from an upper balcony off the master bedroom. Layouts offer either three bedrooms or two bedrooms plus a skylight-lit upstairs den.

This is a self-managed conventional condominium in which exterior windows and doors are common property. The owners have no trouble running their little corporation and maintaining their building and grounds. Each one of these townhouses is worth as much as, or more, as nearby single-family homes.