MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS
Welcome to the Westerly! Chris and Julie Chapman keep having to remind themselves they’re not on holiday. On the contrary, they might be at the peak of their working lives: Julie has been with a large HVAC company for over 20 years, while Chris runs his own promotional marketing and advertising company.
Even before Covid, they both worked from home,
It does feel like a permanent vacation.
which until a few months ago was in Ontario. But now they work—and play—from their new place in the Westerly. “It does feel like a permanent vacation,” says Chris. “We sometimes can’t believe we live here now.”
The pair fell in love with the Island when they visited a few years ago. “Everything was
... just a dream come true.
24 PASSIONS | FALL 2021
so gorgeous, and the people were so fantastic,” says Chris. Like so many easterners, they mentally filed it away as a great place to retire. Then, in the spring of 2021, they’d just completed some renovations on their Ontario house when Julie suggested they move out west. “I said, ‘Seriously?!’” remembers Chris. “And she said, “Well, why not?’” They could work from anywhere—so the earlier they moved, the sooner they could start enjoying Island life. They called a realtor, listed their house, and started looking for waterfront properties on Vancouver Island. Their search led them to the Westerly, and the rest is history. (Okay, it’s a short history, since they only arrived in July, but it’s already proving to be a sweet one.)
