Former King Edward School is reborn as hub for the Calgary arts community

Once a sandstone monolith surrounded by bald prairie, King Edward School has seen countless generations of students pass through its hallways. Its slate staircases bear faint grooves from more than a century of feet, including the hard-soled boots of soldiers that once used its basement for rifle-range training.

Now, 105 years later, the inner-city community of South Calgary surrounds the school, which is undergoing a massive $33.5-million transformation into an arts incubator and artistic venue called cSPACE King Edward.

The school closed in 2001, and was eventually acquired by cSPACE, a social enterprise real estate company that provides rental space, property management and community development. Capital funding for the project has come from the City, province, Calgary Foundation and other organizations.

Will a home makeover make you money?

There are many motivations for renovating a home: expanding the space, upgrading the look or even making the neighbours jealous. While they're all valid, the hope to enrich a house's value along with its appearance is one reason that's often cited. And though there's nothing wrong with that on the surface, it's important to dig deeper to see if a higher home value is really in the cards before taking the renovation plunge.

"It really depends on the type and purpose of the renovation," said Greg Macdonald, president and founder of Sage Appraisals in Calgary and a 23-year veteran of the appraisal business.

"I stress to people that the cost of improvements won't always equal the increase in market value. Developing your basement might give you a 50- to 75-per-cent return and the payoff for landscaping is minimal. With certain unique items, like pools, your return will be next to nothing."

What any homeowner should ask before hiring a contractor

It doesn't take much asking around to find people with horror stories about renovations gone wrong, and many of those stories stem from negative experiences with contractors. Finding the right contractor(s) for your specific needs and budget is a crucial part of making your renovation dream into a reality, so it pays to do your homework.

The following is a list of questions from the Canadian Home Builders' Association (CHBA) to ask any contractor before you hire them:

Smart alarms provide connectivity and peace of mind 

A smart home needs to be a connected home, but the fact that a home is connected doesn't necessarily make it smart. When it comes to safety, though, there really is a new level of intelligent connectedness available in today's generation of smart smoke alarms.

At their most basic, and cheapest, they can alert you remotely via a mobile app when an alarm is activated. In fact, a device like the Roost Smart Battery can smarten up any standard, functioning smoke detector – as long as it's battery-powered or has a battery backup – for about $60. This deceptively simple device is a lithium nine-volt battery with a Wi-Fi chip and a microphone that "hears" your alarm.

Not only will you get an alert when the alarm is activated, you'll also get one when the battery needs replacing. No more annoying low-battery chirps, and yes, you can just swap in any standard 9-volt cell when it's time.

Shane Rennie is putting his renovation expertise to work on his family's new Scarboro home

Shane Rennie and his wife Nilo are seasoned renovators. Rennie owns Rectangle Design Inc., a design, build and renovation company, so he knows the business inside and out. And together, the couple has renovated more than a dozen of their own personal homes. They had been living in Marda Loop, but it was time for a change. They wanted a quieter neighbourhood, close to a great school, where they could raise their two children, who are eight and 10. They also wanted a home with great bones that they could put their personal stamp on. After almost a year of searching, they found a 1,400-square-foot, mid-century, split-level home on the ridge in the century-old neighbourhood of Scarboro and are currently in the midst of renovating.

Entrepreneurial couple found the right fit for their active family in Harmony

Close to a year ago, entrepreneurs Brian Haydamack and Erin Schneider made the decision to move in together and blend their families (he has two children and she has three). The challenge was finding a home large enough to accommodate all of their kids, plus private home offices for both of their businesses. Haydamack, a former professional golfer, runs two golf-related businesses and Schneider is a hair stylist who works out of a home-based salon. The couple found a stylish, six-bedroom home design in the new master-planned lake community of Harmony in Springbank. And the fact that a signature Phil Mickelson golf course will flank the community was icing on the cake.

Calgary-area rural communities offer residents a quiet retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city

As a former farm kid, four-time Canadian bareback champion, and former Calgary Stampede rodeo and chuckwagon manager, Robin Burwash has spent almost every day of his life enjoying the rural-lifestyle dream he now sells as a REALTOR®.

When he talks of finding space and relaxation amidst the trees and hills of acreage properties around Calgary, it comes from personal experiences.

Burwash spent 16 years as a professional bareback rider, and grew up on a farm that eventually became part of the city, not far off of Country Hills Boulevard.

During the years he spent working in Calgary with the Stampede, the best moment of his 45-minute commute to his Black Diamond acreage, he says, was crossing the city limits and entering the wide-open space of the country.

Looking back at 25 years of Heritage Pointe

"Lots of people thought we were crazy to build way out here in the boonies," said Carolina Oxtoby about her company's decision to develop a golf-course community on farmland south of Calgary.

It was 27 years ago when the land on Dunbow Road was purchased, and only two years later, the Heritage Pointe Golf Club was born, with big plans in the works for an upscale, country-residential community to complement it.

Cochrane's Rise in Riversong offers 360-degree living in the heart of Alberta's natural beauty

For homebuyers looking for scenic views, ample amenities and a small-town feel, there's a first-rate option just outside of Calgary.

Value and quality meet in Rise in Riversong, a new townhouse development by Jayman Modus is move-in ready at River Heights Drive, Cochrane.

"The time is now to buy in the Rise because there are only six units remaining out 38 total units. Three weeks ago we had 11," said Hal Pike, sales manager for Rise in Riversong. Units start from $270,000, which include GST. Affordable mortgages are available through Jayman Financial.

"There's still some very good choice whether people need a single or double car garage. And these are all completed units that are great for families or even as an investment. In Calgary, these units would be significantly more and there's huge savings in Canmore with an easy commute to Calgary. It's small town living right next to the big city."

Western heritage is a part of everyday life for residents of Calgary-area ranching communities

While the Calgary Stampede offers Calgarians a mere 10 days each year to indulge in Alberta's ranching and cowboy heritage, that heritage is celebrated every day by residents of communities surrounding the city, including Cochrane, Longview and Turner Valley.

"Cochrane is here because of ranching," said Cochrane town councillor Tara McFadden. Cochrane is named after the man who, in 1881, started the Cochrane Ranche – Alberta's first large-scale livestock operation and a site that remains one of Cochrane's prime attractions.

"Cochrane's ranching history is very important to the Town of Cochrane today. We actively take great pride in keeping it as part of Cochrane's attraction," said McFadden, noting, for example, that the town requires any new building erected within its boundaries to reflect a Western heritage design.