Front Porch Life - Spring / Summer 2024

FRONT PORCH LIFE

Live Better in Westport, Ontario

FINDING HOME - ONE OF ONTARIO’S BEST SMALL TOWNS

Home. Sit with that word for a minute.

We know home is more than a place, it’s a collection of cherished memories and lifedefining moments. In your mind, it’s a swift reel of happiness, belonging, and shared experiences— a sanctuary where your heart finds ease.

You can find that ease in Watercolour, the latest community built by Land Ark Homes.

Land Ark Homes has been building great places to live for 35 years. Building homes and places people will cherish is an enduring legacy that is shared with our homeowners. The families living in Watercolour are part of the next generation for Land Ark Homes and the remarkable village of Westport.

One of Ontario’s best villages, Westport is an endearing hamlet in winter but in the summer is a bustling village with cottagers from the area,

boaters from the Rideau Canal Waterway and sports enthusiasts from near and far. Hiking, cycling, fishing and outdoor pursuits of all kinds abound in the Westport area.

We know home is more than a place, it’s a collection of cherished memories and life-defining moments.

With charming front porches and homes strategically positioned near pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, Watercolour has walkable access

to all the village has to offer. The exteriors are customizable with a delightful array of inviting colours, each mirroring the unique personality of its owner. A network of kilometres-long walking trails meanders along Harvest Creek, inviting residents to embrace an active and healthy lifestyle. With a focus on walkable access to Westport and village centre services, as well as proximity to diverse engaging activities, Watercolour promises its inhabitants a vibrant and fulfilling way of life.

Land Ark will be celebrating its 50th home in Watercolour this spring. Every home incorporates enduring cottage style, Net Zero standards and the elements of a neighbourhood designed around walkability. Residents are finding a new sense of home and reshaping the possibilities for healthy living and greater connection to nature and neighbours.

CUSTOMIZED KITCHENS

Land Ark Homes builds kitchen designs that are functional, comfortable and can be customized to your unique lifestyle. They add home value and create a luxurious social hub in your home.

Kitchens are a focal point for homebuyers. A well-built and aesthetically pleasing kitchen can significantly increase the overall value of a home. It is often considered a key value point when it comes time to sell. And anyone who has hosted a gathering knows - it’s almost impossible to keep everyone from gathering in the kitchen! It’s the place to be... until it’s time to do the dishes!

Customized choices in cupboard style and colour, hardware, tile backsplash and cupboard function and layout make our kitchens truly as unique as the homeowners who enjoy them! Even our standard quartz countertops can be elevated to waterfall islands.

Some of the most popular upgrades include additional pot drawers, cupboard recycle centers, pull out shelves and spice racks, and a wine fridge. We have designers and suppliers for every feature so you can customize and build your dream home in Watercolour. Come see our design centre and visit our website gallery page for inspiration. watercolourwestport.com/gallery

Bold and bright or back to blackour cabinets are made of durable materials and are able to withstand years of enjoyment and use.

With the right customization, kitchens become a luxurious social hub in your home.

SAVOURY SPRINGTIME

Spring is asparagus season! Locally grown asparagus can be harvested in early May and can continue to be available for 6 weeks or more. As one of Ontario’s vibrant spring season vegetables, you can enjoy this simply delicious refined dish any day of the week. Bursting with freshness and flavour, this dish is a perfect pairing of texture and flavour using tender asparagus spears as the star ingredient.

Chef Francois Scheuermann, from the Scheuermann Winery, shared his skill and love of classic comfortable food in a demonstration event at Watercolour. This delicious appetizer, paired with the 2019 Scheuermann Pinot Noir, makes for a wonderful combination. Their gorgeous red wine offers notes of strawberry and dark cherry. It’s a well rounded wine with a soft finish that is barrel aged in French oak. A beautiful richness and finish comes from the earth in their fields of Westport.

Make the winery your next stop in Westport, and when you live in Watercolour - it’s just a short walk away!

Asparagus-Brie Crostini

1 baguette, sliced into ¼ - ⅓ inch thin pieces (Yield should be about 20 pieces. The remainder of the recipe is based on this number. Adjust as necessary.)

¼ cup butter, melted

2 cloves garlic crushed

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp oil for sauteing

½ of a large red onion, sliced thin

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange baguette slices on a flat baking sheet.

Combine melted butter, crushed garlic and cayenne in a small bowl. Brush each baguette slice with mixture, and set aside.

Heat up 1 Tbsp oil in a medium sized skillet over med-high heat. Saute red onion for 3 mins.

Add sliced red pepper to onions in skillet and saute another 3 minutes. Remove red pepper and onion from the pan to a small bowl.

Place skillet back onto heat and sear asparagus pieces for 3 mins. Remove from heat.

To assemble crostinis, place a half piece of prosciutto on each baguette slice; fold or ruffle as necessary to fit. Next, top with some red onion and red pepper mixture, then 2 pieces of asparagus and finally with a slice of brie.

Bake crostinis in preheated oven for 12 mins. Serve warm and enjoy.

Alison Scheuermann

Summertime Fun!

Summertime Fun!

THE RAINBOW FOOTBRIDGE CONNECTS WESPTORT WITH THE PUBLIC WHARF

Westport Market

A vibrant weekly Saturday Market showcasing local talent – artists, makers and farmers. Running every Saturday from May - September. Come find produce, food and fun each week.

Westport Car Show Cruise & Shop

Antique Boat Show

The Manotick Classic Boat Club comes to Westport each summer. The harbour becomes a showcase of the most beautiful antique and classic boats around. Talk to the owners, enjoy the activities and see how the beauty of these boats has been preserved.

NEW for 2024! Saturday July 20 - 9am - 4pm. More than 200 antique, vintage, classic, collectible, custom and exotic vehicles are expected to be on display by their owners. Enjoy exhibitors and vendors from antique era to electric vehicles. Plus a race driving video station for kids of all ages.

Lions Club Beach

Summertime fun is a daily affair at the beach!

Highlights include, June 8 - Fish Fry at the Clubhouse, Saturday July 13 - Rock the Beach Volleyball Tournament and Saturday July 20 - WestFest.

music westport

On the third weekend of August, come and enjoy homegrown talent and headliners perform their music in venues around the village. This event funds the year round activities of the Westport Arts Council. You don’t want to miss it!

Shop and Learn

A destination shopping adventure awaits. Home furnishings, clothing, footwear, art and practical necessities can all be found in the village. Take time to stop in at the museum. A fun learning experience for all!

Scan for Summer Adventure Guide

THRIVING ON A SMALL FOOTPRINT

Never has it been more true that less is more

Families in Watercolour Westport are embracing the less-is-more lifestyle. Living in the heart of picturesque Rideau Lakes cottage country, in a vibrant community of beautifully crafted living spaces, all while using less energy and creating a brighter future. It’s the perfect recipe for a thriving life.

THRIVING IN THE VILLAGE

Westport serves as the hub to all your needs and wants and surrounds you with an abundance of natural beauty. Nestled by the harbour, Foley Mountain Conservation Area, and Sand Lake Beach for swimming and kayaking, residents can immerse themselves in the tranquillity of the outdoors. As close as 200m, and no further than 1 km, an amazing range of services, amenities and entertainment await. There’s the essentials such as a pharmacy, grocery store, bank, churches and fun things like a winery, a brewery, and live entertainment. Countless kilometers of trails in the surrounding area cater to activities like hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing and let’s not forget the many golf courses too. Westport’s strategic location in the heart of the Thousand Islands & Rideau Lakes Waterway ensures easy access to larger cities like Perth, Kingston, Ottawa, and Toronto. Residents’ lives are enriched in this idyllic setting.

THRIVING IN THE FUTURE

Choosing a new home in Watercolour promises not only a vibrant present but also a thriving future. Residents play a crucial role in reducing their carbon footprint by embracing the energy-efficient design of Net Zero Ready homes, which prioritize sustainability without compromising comfort. Equipped to use less energy, these homes promote a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. Through mindful choices, residents intently participate in creating a more sustainable and thriving future for themselves and future generations.

THRIVING IN THE HOME

Spacious and efficient floor plans redefine the notion of comfortable living. With bungalows and two storey homes starting at 978sq ft, along with the many design choices to personalize your home, Watercolour ensures the perfect fit for any lifestyle.

This vibrant community is thriving in the Less is More lifestyle and actively contributing to a brighter future.

THRIVING IN DESIGN

• Spacious outdoor living areas in both front and back

• Continuous, durable easy care tile or hardwood flooring from the front door to the rear porch

• Family entrance from garage with storage, sink, and laundry area

• Perfectly proportioned kitchen with island and seating for casual daily dining

• Dining space with optional built-in cabinetry for servingware storage

• Generous primary bedroom, walk in closet, ensuite bath with private toilet area

• Spacious open concept living spaces on both levels with fireplace options

• Architectural details in rounded corners for all interior walls

• Streaming natural light through large windows on all sides

• Lower level offers large windows with stone lined window wells, and extra high ceilings!

ACHIEVE GREATER ENERGY SECURITY

With rising prices, unpredictable power outages, and climate change, it’s time to flip the switch and go solar with battery backup.

Watercolour is the perfect place to see a solar-powered home in action.

The model home at 102 Shelter Cove Drive is a Sydenham model with a 5 kilowatt solar array installed on the roof. It also has a Tesla Powerwall in the garage that provides 5 kilowatts of peak output power. Bluewater Energy installed the solar panels and the energy management system.

The Savant home energy management system manages the electricity coming from the solar panels and the grid. It allows the homeowner to choose which areas and appliances get priority if there’s a long power outage from their smartphone. The model home can fully sustain itself indefinitely as long as the sun is shining. Solar also charges the battery bank.

Watercolour homeowners who have installed solar are paying less than $40/month TOTAL for their energy bill including heating, cooling, hot water, and all other electricity uses.

For shorter periods of time, the home can sustain itself by drawing from the battery. The length of time the battery can sustain the house alone depends on the occupants’ energy use, of course.

A fully electric home wouldn’t have been possible in Canada without significant advances in home construction that substantially reduce the energy needed to operate a house. Every home at Watercolour is certified Net Zero Ready and fossil-fuel free. These high-performance homes are being built to a code that won’t be enforced until 2035.

Every home at Watercolour has super insulation, super ventilation, and a super-tight building envelope. Very few homes in Canada are built to this Net Zero Ready standard. Watercolour homes have triple-paned windows, cold-climate air source heat pumps for heating and cooling, electric hot water heaters, LED lights, and a super-tight building envelope.

Because Watercolour homes are Net Zero Ready, the installation of solar panels as a renewable energy source means the homes can produce as much energy as they use over the course of a year.

Solar is a leading way to offset operational costs as a homeowner. Plus, with more frequent and chaotic weather events causing more power outages, renewable energy from solar with a battery backup builds resilience into the home.

There are many reasons to consider solar including a $40,000 interest-free government loan and net metering arrangements with utility companies. Solar is one of the best ways homeowners can reduce their energy bills and achieve greater energy security.

WATERFRONT TO WATERCOLOUR

The dream of a waterfront cottage is deeply embedded in the Canadian psyche.

A family cottage holds lifelong memories but sometimes the joy of cottaging can become a lot to handle. Problems with septic, poor internet connectivity, isolation from community, and the lack of nearby services can turn cottaging into more of burden. The cost of upkeep can also become a big factor. Watercolour residents are finding that it’s possible to create new memories in a beautiful waterfront village without the complexity of cottage ownership.

Bruce and LuAnne moved from their 2,900-square foot dream home on two acres on a lake near Westport to come to Watercolour. “I was sick of going to the dump every Wednesday for 10 years,” says LuAnne. “I was sick of a 20 minute walk to get the mail. And I felt isolated. I’m at that time in my life where I’d like to have neighbors. And I’d like to be part of a community again.”

Loren and Doris left cottage life in Prince Edward County to join the community at Watercolour. “We walk every day and look out over the lake and see the boats at the Westport harbour,” says Doris. “We used to be boaters and love that feeling. We used to come to Westport every summer for at least a weekend and usually two. Westport felt very comfortable.”

At Watercolour, the winery is a short stroll away, the pharmacy, library, grocery store and ice cream shop are a short walk downtown. And friends, community and nature are all around. Oh, and Sand Lake Beach is five minutes away too.

Scan here to meet three couples who have traded cottage ownership for a connected cottage lifestyle in Watercolour.

At Watercolour, friends, community and nature are all around.

KEEPING WESTPORT BEAUTIFUL

Donna Easter thinks Westport is special. She’s part of a group of people working to keep it that way.

Westport is a unique place. It’s a gem of a village with shops, restaurants, and a picturesque harbour, complete with an historical gazebo and a pollinator garden. Westport is the hub of Canada’s oldest cottage country.

“We’re very proud of Westport,” says Easter. “Sometimes I look down Spring Street, past all the shops towards the harbour, and think, ‘Wow, this is a really beautiful village.’”

It was natural for Easter to join Westport Blooms when she moved to the village 10 years ago. It’s a group of area residents who have become fast friends through their love of gardening and their concern for the environment. You’ll see the team’s handiwork as you stroll downtown in the summer.

Westport Blooms is responsible for the many hanging baskets and planters overflowing with greenery and flowers along the main streets, at the library, the post office, the town hall and down to the harbour.

Westport promises to be a beautiful place for generations to come.

Easter lives next door to Watercolour. Her property backs on to one of the ponds. She and the engineers, landscape architects, and workers at Watercolour have consistently communicated throughout the build to create positive relationships. She watered some of the new plantings along the edge of her property during the unusually warm fall weather and worked hard to come up with a solution so large trees on the property could be preserved.

“I really liked it when they planted trees and native species behind my property,” she says. “People who move here, like me, appreciate nature.”

The team at Watercolour and the new homeowners are also passionate about their village. Gardens have been planted at the main entrances and a Watercolour resident tamed an overgrown and neglected cemetery adjacent to his new home. A seasonal creek has become a centrepiece of the property.

Flowers and greenery add colour and beauty to Westport. Other less noticeable features help keep the surrounding lakes and environment beautiful too.

At Watercolour, excess runoff gets collected in ponds where specially chosen plants evapotranspire moisture back into the atmosphere. Silt settles in the ponds and nutrients get absorbed by native species, planted along the shoreline. Water is released over time, at a better rate.

With groups like Westport Blooms caring for the village and the people of Land Ark Homes making wise decisions for Watercolour, Westport promises to be a beautiful place for generations to come.

DOGS ARE WELCOME IN WESTPORT

Four-legged residents agree that Westport is a great place to call home.

Watercolour is a perfect place for a dog. The homes at Watercolour are steps from the Harvest Creek Trail where a dog can stretch its legs. Just ask Forest (above), the Labradoodle that accompanies Stephen Rolston, owner and founder of Land Ark Homes, almost everywhere. A few times a day you’ll catch Stephen and Forest going for a short jaunt through the trees and over the walking bridge.

For the dog lovers at Watercolour, a midafternoon walk will often end with friends connecting. You’ll find canine companions curled up under chairs while neighbours chat on front porches, often sharing a pitcher of cold lemonade or a glass of wine.

For longer adventures, Foley Mountain Conservation Area has several hiking loops including good spots to take a sip of water or go for a quick splash. A short car ride opens up a whole new world of hiking adventures along the nearby K&P Trail and at the provincial parks.

Westport has a beautiful pet store, vet clinic, and grooming services within walking distance. And the dog owners of Watercolour have also discovered Forest and Fields Dog Retreat on 130 acres near Westport. This door-to-door doggie daycare is beloved by our pooches. Even Forest spent a weekend there while the Rolstons were out of town.

Next time you visit Watercolour, be sure to bring your dog. We have a water bowl waiting on our front porch!