But few of us have the money - or a backyard big enough - for a swimming pool. And very few of us can afford the lot premium required for waterfront property.
That's why Ottawa developer Daniel Anderson had the idea of creating neighbourhoods of upscale single homes, each featuring a swimming pool exclusively for homeowners and their guests. Such a community would be an even nicer place to live, he figured, if he dug a man-made lake smack in the midst of it.
He figured the lake, perhaps even more than the swimming pool, would draw homebuyers attracted by opportunities to canoe, kayak and be close to nature.
Two decades after Mr. Anderson had this idea, he has dug 13 lakes around the village of Greely, just south of Ottawa, and hundreds of homeowners have moved into his planned communities.
Mr. Anderson is president of Sunset Lakes Developments. His company doesn't build the homes. It buys a parcel of land - perhaps 100 acres - and subdivides it into lots, typically about half an acre each. Then it arranges municipal services for these lots, afterward selling them to a builder or individuals who want a custom-built home.
And while some may find man-made lakes a little, well, artificial, that doesn't seem to be an issue with Mr. Anderson's customers. The novelty - and chief attraction to homebuyers - is in the amenities. Collectively owned by each community, amenities typically include one or more small lakes, a swimming pool, beach, children's play area, tennis court and hiking trails.
Robert Wallingford, a homeowner and volunteer organizer of South Village Owners' Association, estimates Sunset Lakes Developments spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the lake, pool and other amenities now owned by himself and his neighbours.
Those capital costs were included in the lot purchase price paid by each homebuyer, Mr. Wallingford says. Even so, he says, the lot price he paid compared favourably with prices in other subdivisions that did not have such amenities.
The actual cost of these amenities to each homeowner is about $300 a year, which covers maintenance and other operating costs of a swimming pool and other amenities.
Marcel Falardeau speaks for Sunset Lakes Owners' Association - the first community planned by Mr. Anderson. Says Mr. Falardeau: "We pay $300 a year per homeowner, and for that we have two swimming pools, a beach, children's play area, two lakes and two ponds, one stocked with trout, and two kilometres of trails."
Mr. Falardeau, who moved to Sunset Lakes with his family from Barrhaven eight years ago, says he's "not qualified to say" whether these amenities add to the resale value of homes in the community. "What I can say is that homes in Sunset Lakes are not on the market for very long when they go on sale."
Real estate agent James Wright, who is based in nearby Manotick, says subdivisions developed by Sunset Lakes Developments are "driving" real estate prices in Greely. Prices of custom homes being built in Greely are rising, says Mr. Wright.
According to Ottawa Real Estate Board's multiple-listing statistics, the average price of a home sold in Greely jumped last year by 18.5 per cent.
Such a statistic can be misleading, experts caution, since the type and value of homes coming on the market may vary from one year to the next.
In 2008, 147 homes sold on MLS in Greely at an average price of $441,498. That compared with an average price of $372,643 for 133 homes sold in Greely in 2007.
Lot prices in the Sunset Lakes developments range from $79,900 to $189,900. Most lots are about one-half acre. The most expensive pieces of land back onto a lake. Even the cheapest lots, though, may be only one or two minutes' walk from a lake or swimming pool.
As the developer, Mr. Anderson does not set home prices, only lot prices. But he does set minimum sizes for homes built on lots in his developments. For his latest planned development, next to the proposed site of a Greely village shopping centre, the minimum required livable space for a bungalow is 1,500 square feet.
For a two-storey house, the minimum required is 2,000 square feet, with 1,200 square feet on the ground floor.
Mr. Anderson says new homes being built in his Greely developments cost "$400,000 and up." The majority cost less than $600,000, he says.
Land is relatively inexpensive around Greely, which means builders can build more cheaply than in other parts of Ottawa, according to Mr. Anderson.
"Our objective is not to be expensive," he said. "You are not looking at million-dollar homes here. People may have been getting the idea that this is another Rockcliffe Park, but it isn't."
