A beautiful, well-designed and well-crafted home is about more than the pretty countertops and gleaming floors. Often, what lies beneath the surface is just as important.

It's been a big year for the CREB® Charitable Foundation, as events, fundraisers and dozens of volunteer initiatives filled the annual calendar. To cap the year off, the foundation announced a $1-million, three-year commitment to Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta's newest development, the Silvercreek Legacy build.

Gino Marghella was a young manager at the Italian Centre Shop in Edmonton when he bought his first home back in 2005.

For a young adult, purchasing a home can be an experience filled with anxious moments. Marghella – who is now general manager of the Italian Centre Shop, Alberta, and manages the Calgary store – readily admits that's the way he felt at the time.

While it is known for its breathtaking beauty, proximity to Canmore and some excellent ice cream, Cochrane is also a community with a rich and diverse history, fuelled by its ranching origins.

My favourite Netflix show has a plot of murder and suspense. Unlike a dead tree in your yard, where the cause of death might not be determined for years, there is always resolution at the end of every season of Shetland.

Named after the French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac, the tiny hamlet of Balzac, located just north of Calgary, is so small that its population doesn't even crack double digits. However, it packs a wallop when it comes to commercial development.

As visions of a green Christmas danced in their heads, cannabis companies scrambled to secure retail locations in Calgary during the lead up to legalization and the aftermath. While some might say "the more, the merrier," others are left to wonder about the long-term impact of this increased demand on the city's commercial real estate market.

For Calgary-based, world-class explorer and adventurer Laval St. Germain, home is where the heart is.

"I could be on the other side of the planet, living in an apartment in Hong Kong or a tent in Kenya, but as long as I am with my family, I am at home," he said, just days before he was set to depart on his latest adventure to the South Pole in support of the Alberta Cancer Foundation.