Beautiful character home in small city in the mountains of Canada.

Description

We love our character home (built in 1912) and the relaxed outdoors-oriented lifestyle of Kamloops, Canada. We live just minutes by foot from downtown shops, restaurants, and cafés. We are also just a few minutes drive from spectacular mountain hiking, 45 minutes from a world-class ski resort (Sun Peaks), 90 minutes from the spectacular waterfalls of Wells Gray Park, 3.5 hours from Vancouver and 5.5 hours from Banff. But we also like to travel and want to experience other parts of the world, so we would be happy to share our home, for example as part of an exchange with people who have similar interests. Most of our own travels have been to Europe; we particularly love Germany and want to see more of the Nordic countries and the Mediterranean. Recently retired, we are free to travel further and want to see more of New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific/East Asia. Our house offers 2200 square feet accessible on 2 levels. The main floor includes the living room, dining room, kitchen, office, a half-bath, and a bedroom with an ensuite bathroom; there is a large porch in the front of the house and a patio in a terraced back yard at the back, off the kitchen. On the upper floor there is a large self-contained suite including a master bedroom, a TV viewing area with fireplace, an upper patio, and an adjacent kitchenette. There is an upstairs bathroom. An additional room upstairs could be used as a bedroom if needed (not counted in the listing). The basement has a large laundry room as well as a large pottery studio not included for guest use. The property is beautifully landscaped and steep, with stairs up from the front street and stairs down from the back driveway and garage. It is unfortunately not accessible to people who cannot manage stairs. There are outdoor seating areas in both front and back. Kamloops has a full 4-season climate. It is cold by most people's standards from December to February with a number of periods of snow, which usually melts after a few days. (Downtown Kamloops is at the bottom of a valley where winter is mild. In winter there is usually snow for snowshoeing or skiing just a few minutes drive up into the hills.) There is a beautiful spring, a hot summer when temperatures often reach 35 C and air conditioning is desirable for comfort, and a long glorious autumn. Our home has central heating (natural gas boiler and radiators) as well as 7 wall-mounted, mini-ductless heat-pump units that provide electric heating or air conditioning. While not required, it would be helpful for guests to have basic experience of home maintenance to deal with any unforeseen events. It may be necessary to shovel or sweep the outdoor steps in case of snow or fallen leaves.