June 21, 2017 | Andrea Cox

A lake of their own

Family on a "mini-vacation every day" at their new Auburn Bay home

The moment Jennifer and Justin Humphries drove through the entrance gates into Auburn Bay, one of Calgary's newest lake communities, they were sold on the lake lifestyle. That was five years ago in 2012, when the couple was living in McKenzie Towne and had recently had their first child. They wanted more from their neighbourhood, and lake living was a top priority. Auburn Bay checked all of the couple's boxes. CREB®Now: What makes lake living so special?

Justin Humphries: Before we lived in Auburn Bay, we would have to pack up and go to the lake. Now we just walk out our backyard carrying fishing rods – we can go paddle boarding, swimming or canoeing right here. And in the winter, they carve a path around the lake for skating. Our neighbours also get together and shovel a skating and hockey rink by our dock and we ice fish. Sometimes we go to Auburn House for the sandy beach – they have a playground, a toboggan hill, tennis courts and a gymnasium, plus food trucks on the weekend. But mostly since we have moved to our new home, we hang out at our dock.

CREB®Now: Tell us about your home.

Justin Humphries: We actually built two. The first home was a Baywest home – about 2,400 square feet with a front-attached garage. We lived there for a few years and then purchased a private lake access lot and designed a semi-custom home with Albi Homes. It's the Lavello 2 design, a 3,100-square-foot, walkout design. We changed it quite a bit – we bumped out the kitchen six feet, bumped the garage out and created a pub in the lower level with a 140-inch projector screen TV and TVs behind the bar.
Jennifer designed the kitchen island with the lower level eating bar and the L-shape. The Lavello 2 design was nominated for the 2016 Sales and Marketing (SAM) Awards and made it into the finals, taking second place in its price category.

"Before we lived in Auburn Bay, we would have to pack up and go to the lake. Now we just walk out our backyard carrying fishing rods." - Justin Humphries, Auburn Bay homeowner

CREB®Now: What is the sense of community like at Auburn Bay?

Justin Humphries: It's amazing. We are in a private lake access pod with 25 homes. A pathway runs behind the homes and it is gated on either end. The kids play up and down the path, which leads to the lake, a private dock and green space. It's really tight – all of the girls are in a group text. Someone will say, "Hey, let's have wine." They sign up for meal train where everyone cooks a meal for the neighbours who have just had babies. At last count, there were 52 kids on our pathway of 25 homes and five of those homes still haven't been built. There is always something going on. Last night, we had a block party with a bouncy house, face painting and a dunk tank. And every Thursday, we host "Thirsty Thursdays" in our pub – last Thursday we had 40 people show up.
We also have lots of family here. My father-in-law and sister-in-law bought in the next pod over, so we are really only seven houses away.

Tagged: ALBI Homes | Auburn Bay | baywest homes | Buyer Profile | Jennifer Humphries | Justin Humphries