Many Albertans are looking close to home when it comes to buying a vacation property 

Calgary residents Nora and Norval Horner recall many summer vacations spent along Alberta's Gull Lake.

"Nora's family had a cottage on Gull Lake, and we used that cottage a lot while our kids were growing up. We'd come up the end of June and stay 'til Labour Day," recalled Norval.

They loved cottage life so much that when an opportunity arose to purchase 210 acres of land along the northeast corner of Gull Lake, the Horners bought it and started their own cottage development – Meridian Beach.

Recreation properties offer a scenic and serene home away from home

The dip of a paddle in the lake, the sizzle of a steak on the barbecue, the haunting hoot of a Great-Horned Owl: welcome to recreational living.

In a recreation survey conducted by the Alberta government, the top three favourite leisure activity of respondents was walking, golf and camping. Luckily for Albertans, lake and recreation living
is within short drives of all major centres.