Sunday, February 9, 2014

BC Cottage Landscaping Before and After

I looked at purchasing my British Columbia cottage in September 2012 and decided not to purchase it because of the following:


  • A large tree blocked the view of the Pacific Ocean and North Shore Mountains…
  • The inside was dated…and needed a new kitchen, etc.
  • It needed work and I wasn't up for taking on the challenge of fixing it up because I live in Portland Oregon and the cottage is in Gibsons, BC. It takes me 5.5 hours to drive to a ferry and then take a 40 minute ride to get to the area where the cottage is located. I don't mind all drive because it is worth it…however I wouldn't have been able to go as often as overseeing the work would have required.

Someone else bought the place in October 2012 and fixed almost everything and even things I wouldn't have done…


  • Took out the tree that blocked the view…
  • Put in a new driveway...
  • Put in new landscaping...
  • Painted all the paneling white...
  • Put in a new kitchen...
  • Took out the wall between the bedroom and living room so you have an ocean view from bed...

And then sold it to me on October 1, 2013.

Over the next few posts I will be revealing the before (what it looked like in October 2012) and the after pics.

The landscaping before…sorry about the quality...the pictures are screen shots off google.
View blocked by a tree…note the driveway.

Here is the tree that was blocking the view. Note the steps to the left of the tree.

The pictures below show the landscaping the sellers put in between October 2012 and October 2013. They did a huge amount of work and put in a lot of money…more than I would have invested. I have a 500 square foot cottage and a 100 square foot bunk house/studio.


Welcome to Hopkins Cottage!

The tree blocking the view is gone…new stairs and driveway.

The Bunk House/Studio is the small building off to the right.


Off street parking is a big deal…I am lucky that I can fit 2 cars in my driveway

Pictures of the view now that the tree is gone…


View of the Pacific Ocean and islands.

View of Keats Island.

View of the ocean,  ferry and mountains from bed.

Thanks for stopping by... Renee @ Cottage Lifestyle