Palace Oaks townhouses

It feels more like Canmore than Calgary in this 1976-built townhouse development of 141 stacked homes in three-level buildings on a property with many evergreen trees and a small playground in a large central lawn. And yes, it's in Oakridge, regardless of being on Palliser Drive, which also winds through Palliser neighbourhood to the east across Twenty-Fourth Street. Abacus Cities Ltd. was the developer of this and several other residential and commercial projects in Calgary before running into the recession of the early 1980s and going bankrupt.

Palace Oaks has thrived, though, housing families in either bungalow suites at grade or in the two-level homes above. Each bungalow home has a spacious fenced patio, while the upper homes all have a large balcony of the living room and access to a deck-like walkway/carport roof off the kitchen. A greenbelt on the development's west side makes for a green setting and leads north to South Glenmore Park and the city reservoir, which are just across Nintieth Avenue. There's also a handy shortcut from Palace Oaks to the tiny Oak Bay Plaza with its pub/restaurant.

Originally cedar and stucco sided, the buildings saw exterior repainting in 2009. In 2011 new exterior stairs were installed to all the second-level walkways and new soffits tacked on underneath those. Inside the buildings each home is well over 1,000 square feet. There are no basements, but there are crawlspaces beneath the bungalow suites that in some cases provide storage space. Ceilings are almost nine feet high in the bungalows, and only slightly less on the living level of the two-storey homes above. The buildings' designs allow most cars to be largely covered by overhangs.

I keep the Palace Oaks townhouses condominium plan on file.