176-Acre Recreational Property with Magnificent Home Under 2 Hours from Lower Mainland – Princeton, BC

176-Acre Recreational Property with Magnificent Home Under 2 Hours from Lower Mainland - Princeton, BC

Price : $1,099,000

Select Property type: Sold
DESCRIPTION: Stunning recreational property with 176 acres of natural landscape, grassland, timber, old hay fields and river frontage. This property is an outdoorsmen’s dream with mule deer, whitetail deer, elk and moose residing on the property. The property has 1 mile of river frontage on the Tulameen River, a modern home built in 2000 and stunning panoramic views.
LISTING NUMBER : 19282
PRICE: $1,099,000
SIZE: 176 acres

Description

This is a trophy property with unlimited character and recreational opportunity. Located 2 hours from the Lower Mainland, the property is the perfect playground for someone who wants to live in the Lower Mainland, but escape to British Columbia’s wild interior.

Located two kilometres from the quaint town of Princeton, the property offers urban convenience and rural recreation. With 176 acres of parkland forest, grassland and river frontage, there are infinite possibilities for the property. Whether you want to convert the property into a hobby ranch, or utilize it has your own private hunting preserve, the property offers diversity, seclusion and natural beauty.

The property consists largely of park like forest with Douglas fir and open grasslands dominating the majority of the property. There are minor undulations throughout the property giving the deeded lands a very wild and natural feel. If a new owner wanted to increase the grazing capacity on the property, they could clear some of the timber to permit increased grazing opportunity for cattle. As it exists, the property is a haven for wildlife particularly mule deer, which occupy the property in large numbers.

Below the home is the lower portions of the property, which are situated along the Tulameen River. This flat river bottom land was previously farmed and produced healthy hay yields. There are well built roads/trails down to these lower portions of the property to permit vehicles and equipment easy access. The lower hay field previously consisted of approximately 20 acres and over 900 square bales per year.

Much of the property is south facing providing stunning views of the river valley below and permitting an enormous amount of sunlight to hit the property year-round.

The driveway is wide and well maintained. Access to Tulameen Ave and into town is extremely easy and convenient.

Residence

The residence is warm and inviting and the perfect home to raise a happy and healthy family. Built in 2000, the home offers over 2,700 ft2 of functional living space. As you approach the home, you quickly become aware of its pristine location atop the river valley where it is blessed with unrivalled views of the surrounding landscape.

Despite its magnificent appearance and size, the home sits quite naturally atop the banks of the Tulameen River Valley below. The home has a spacious two car garage, peaked roof, covered veranda with pillar supports and many tall windows to shower the home in sunlight. The home is cozy and inviting as you step up to the front door. A natural river rock chimney protrudes above the peaked roof.

Entering the home there is a large greeting area with grand staircase. The staircase leads upstairs to the master bedroom (with its 5-piece en-suite bathroom), two additional bedrooms, an additional 4-piece bathroom and office space. This second level of the home is wonderfully laid out and provides functional living space for the whole family to live and sleep comfortably.

Off the foyer on the main level of the home there is a beautiful formal dining area with easy access to the kitchen. This is the perfect location to host family get together and celebrate big holiday dinners.

The open concept kitchen/living room is bright and open with a cozy breakfast/dining nook. The kitchen has an island with breakfast bar perfect for prepping meals or entertaining guests. Throughout the kitchen there is lots of counter/cabinet space, a fridge, dishwasher, oven, stove top and dual basin sink. Above the sink is a large, bright window where you can look out over the river valley below.

The family room off the kitchen has a large stone fire place, which casts a warm glow on the occupants of the living room while they enjoy the conversation and watch the big game.

This property and corresponding residence would be the perfect family home, or the perfect family getaway. With modern convenience, rural charm and unlimited recreation/farm potential, this is an extremely unique opportunity in such close proximity to the Lower Mainland.

LOCATION

This property is located two kilometres west of Princeton south of Tulameen Avenue.

DIRECTIONS

From downtown Princeton, head northwest on Bridge Street and cross the Tulameen River using the bridge. Turn to head west, after crossing the bridge, and continue along Tulameen Ave for 2.3 km at which point the drive way for the property will be on the south side of the road.

AREA DATA
Princeton (originally Vermilion Forks) is a town in the Similkameen region of southern British Columbia. It lies just east of the Cascade Mountains, which continue south into Washington, Oregon and California. The mountains, valleys and hundreds of miles of backcountry roads make this region a natural setting for outdoor activities. The Tulameen and Similkameen Rivers converge here in Princeton and both of these rivers are excellent choices for gold panning, tubing and paddling. The 49 lakes in the area make Princeton a prime fishing destination throughout the year.

Manning and Cathedral Provincial Parks surround Princeton providing for ample recreational opportunities. Manning Park is only 45 minutes away and has an excellent ski hill, hundreds of camping sites and many hiking and cross-country ski trails. The larger Apex Mountain Ski Resort is also only 45 minutes away.

At the 2016 census, the population of Princeton was 2,828. Princeton centers on seven blocks of businesses along Bridge Street and five blocks on Vermilion Avenue; there are also businesses along British Columbia Highway 3. Princeton has a primary school (K to grade 3), one middle school (grades 4 to 7) and one high school (grades 8 to 12) as well as a continuing education center.

Historically, the area’s main industry has been mining—copper, gold, coal, and some platinum. The town’s biggest employers are Copper Mountain Mine and a sawmill owned by Weyerhaeuser, along with a few smaller timber companies, such as Princeton Wood Preservers and Princeton Post and Rail.

VEGETATION

Princeton is located just east of the Cascade Mountains, giving the town a rain shadow effect whereby the community receives very little precipitation relative to areas on the windward side of the Cascade Mountains. Princeton is one of the sunniest places in British Columbia with 2,088 hours of sunshine annually. The 323 days per year with measurable sunshine, defined by having a minimum of 6 minutes of sunshine in a day, is the most in the province, and one of the highest in Canada. The 29.4 days with measurable sunshine in March is the highest in the country.

These weather patterns produce an arid climate, but provide for excellent growing conditions for gardens and landscaped yards, if they remain well watered. Interior Douglas fir, ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine as well as aspen are the main trees growing in the area.

RECREATION

The property and region surrounding the property offer fabulous outdoor recreation year-round. In the summer water skiing and swimming at Tulameen’s pristine Otter Lake are popular activities. There is excellent fishing in Otter Lake, Chain Lake, Link Lake, Osprey Lakes and in the rivers throughout the area. 47 of the nearby lakes are considered good trout lakes.

The KVR/Trans Canada Trail offers miles and miles of cycling, hiking, cross-country skiing and horseback riding.

Nearby Manning Park and Cathedral Provincial Park offers excellent hiking opportunities with stunning vistas and viewpoints of the North Western Cascade Mountain Range.

In the winter, there’s plenty of snow in the surrounding mountains for snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.

Princeton Golf Course has 18 holes and a driving range a restaurant and an RV Park.

The historic towns of Coalmont, Tulameen and Hedley are located in a nearby radius of Princeton and can be explored for evidence of their coal and gold mining pasts.

HISTORY

Before European contact, the land around today’s Princeton was known among First Nations people as a source of red ochre. Beginning no later than 1846, fur traders, settlers, and miners established trails connecting what was then known as Vermilion Forks to the Pacific Coast of British Columbia. John Fall Allison became, in 1858, the first permanent settler of European ancestry. To this day, the site of his home functions locally as a kilometer zero, with creeks east of Princeton having names like “Five Mile” based on their distance from that location. The town he founded was renamed “Prince Town” (later corrupted to “Princeton”) to honor an 1860 visit to eastern Canada by Prince Edward (later King Edward VII).

In the years 1909–1915 the railways arrived, with the Kettle Valley Railway(later Canadian Pacific) connecting Princeton to the Great Northern.

Until 1961 Princeton was home to a brewery, the Princeton Brewing Company. Until the 1940s the brewery kept its beer cool in the Vermilion Cave. The cave, which held up to 20 railway cars at a time, was largely demolished to make way for the Hope-Princeton Highway, part of the Crowsnest Highway (British Columbia Highway 3).

Princeton joined the Canadian Board of Trade (later Chamber of Commerce) in 1913, and was incorporated as a village in 1951, and as a town in 1978. Beginning in the 1980s Princeton began to revitalize its downtown, a plan that included red brick sidewalks and new streetlights. In the 1990s, they adopted a “heritage” theme, with many businesses converting their exteriors to match architectural styles from roughly a century earlier. Further landscaping of the town center continues as of 2008.

The historic Princeton Hotel on Bridge Street, which had been in operation since 1912, burned to the ground on April 8, 2006.

The name Vermilion Forks survives in the name of Vermilion Forks Indian Reserve No. 1, which is immediately adjacent to the town of Princeton to the east, and is one of the reserves of the Upper Similkameen Indian Band, whose head offices are in Hedley.

MAP REFERENCE

49°26’57.81″N and 120°32’18.39″W

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