By Jean Sorensen

Langley Township, considered B.C.’s horse capital with an estimated 7,000 horses, has a new lynch-pin attraction – an equestrian centre and clubhouse within a housing development at the Cressey Developments Group High Point Equestrian Estate Community.

The new equestrian centre is a showpiece offering a covered indoor 80 x 250-foot riding arena, an outdoor riding ring, outdoor paddocks, a spacious clubhouse and two 20-stall barns with all the conveniences (including temperature controlled water for the horses), tack room and industrial laundry. The equestrian centre’s facilities tie together High Point, a development deemed low-density with lots ranging from half an acre up to eight acres. The homes are crested on hills or clustered with green spaces yielding riding trails.

“I don’t think you can find another place like this that is close to the city, has this amount of land available and can offer the low density that is required to make it a financial model and still have this kind of lifestyle,” says developer and president Scott Cressey.  Smaller developments have grown from ranches in the U.S. or in Central B.C., but they are not within 45 minutes of a major city and do not offer spacious lots.  

Cressey says as a developer he saw the opportunity to work with the township, which wanted low-density housing, preservation of green space and an equestrian lifestyle in a unique, high-end development at the southern border of its jurisdiction.

The 267 acres, when built out, will have 164 homes with an average lot size of 1.8 acres. There will be nine acres of open space, 90 acres of wetlands and nine km of trails. The trails connect to Campbell Valley Regional Park, which has 30 km of trails and is B.C.’s largest pubic equestrian park. 

Originally, says Cressey, the old gravel pit site was considered for a golf course. “We looked at the community and what it was all about,” says Cressey, adding that the township has a policy of sustaining its equestrian population. The decision to build an equestrian community starting in July 2007 was a “win-win” situation, says Cressey, as the township received 11 km of new sewer lines brought to the southern end of its jurisdiction. As well, many of the local farm residents in the area were still on wells and the new community provided a new water system.

Today there are approximately 44 lots remaining and they range in size from half an acre starting at $529,000, to eight-acre estate lots, with the bulk of the remaining lots in the half to two-acre category. Buyers purchasing lots more than two acres will be allowed to keep horses on their property under township bylaws.

Cressey’s Jason Turcotte says that restrictions apply to the quality of construction and the minimum size of a home is 2,500 square feet. (The largest in the complex is now over 60,000 square feet.)

“This is where the builders build,” Turcotte says. Many of the original buyers were involved in the construction industry or are tradesmen. (As well as lots for sale, there are several finished homes that are on the market in the complex as buyers are reselling).

Homeowners have the option of purchasing or renting a stall in one of the two barns and have access to the arenas and outdoor ring when they are not in use. “We are told that as arenas go, that this one is the ,” Turcotte says. It is ventilated, covered and insulated. It also has shuttered windows to eliminate distractions for the horses while in the arena. Special events and riding lesson will be offered there. 

The 8,000-square-foot clubhouse includes a 1,000-square-foot lounge with a 16-foot-long bar, leather club chairs, a fireplace, large screen TVs, pool tables, floor-to-ceiling windows, 1,600-square-foot covered patio with outdoor heaters, a large fireplace and three viewing lounges perfect for watching the equestrian activities. A glass wall joins the clubhouse to the equestrian centre. There’s also a 4,000-square-foot fitness centre with his and her steam rooms, yoga area, cardio, stretch and weight rooms in the clubhouse. Beside the complex is a tennis court.

The community is surrounded by farms, greenhouses and agricultural land. There is a public elementary school nearby but the only high school in the area is private. 

High Point has a show home available for viewing on site. It also offers a web site at www.highpointestates.ca, which provides a lot diagram setting out available sites.

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