By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: July 14, 2012
Money can’t buy you love, but $7.8 million can get you a palatial house overlooking the Squamish river and the mountains.
The town’s most expensive home, a 6,000 sq-ft timber-frame residence on Government Road, came up for sale last month.
It’s a slide-show illustration of that oft-repeated real estate slogan: location, location, location.
The six-year old private and sprawling 13-acre property sits on the Squamish River dike, with close-up views of the mountains from every possible vantage point.
The five-bedroom home, named Sanctuary, has copper-clad doors, and showcases wood beams milled on site, vaulted ceilings, and two wood-burning fireplaces.
The high-end furniture is for the buyer to keep.
Listed by Shawn Wentworth and Vancouver realtor Jason Soprovich, the house is owned by local couple Brian and Jones McIntosh.
There are million dollar views from the porch and the perfectly landscaped and manicured gardens.
But it’s the master bedroom where the views are priceless.
The vaulted master suit and a private terrace take up the entire upper floor with big windows and doors that open to the river and the mountains.
“There is nothing like this in Squamish,” said Shawn Wentworth.
“This is an exclusive retreat, it’s close to the town, and yet it’s so private most people wouldn’t even know it’s there,” he added.
Wentworth said he has spent ‘a lot, a lot of money’ to market the home in luxury homes magazines all across the country and in the US.
The home was recently featured in the National Post magazine.
Wentworth said the house puts Squamish on the map of luxury homes, a market that is typically reserved for West Vancouver, and Whistler.
He said there have been some serious inquiries about the home from interested buyers.
“We have had calls from Chinese, German, and a few from the US,” he said.
The next most expensive home was listed at $2.2 million in Garibaldi Highlands.
Craig says
I bet it doesn’t sell for more than 2 yrs and for no more than $5 million.
Prices for comparable homes in West Vancouver have alreadey started to drop %5 to %30. This one is soon to follow.
MichaelL65 says
A 7.8 Million home on the Squamish River Dike. I wonder how much that home will be worth when the next 1 in whatever year flood pours over the dike?
Jim Webster says
Used to be 10M, even expensive houses come down eh!
Cathy says
Anyone who has tried to go for a walk on what should be a public dyke knows of the existence of this house. I’m not sure of the exact history that allowed the public dyke to be fenced off but I’d like to see Squamish Council open up the dyke as a condition of the sale of this property.
MichaelL65 says
Cathy, I agree!
Craig says
Was $10 million, then $7.8 million and now 4 months later and the price has been dropped again by $801,000 to $6.9 million and it still not sold.
That’s an overall drop of 31% from the original price.
Contrary to popular opinion, real estate doesn’t always go up.
I still think if this place is going to sell, it will sell for less than 5 million.