Tiny bungalow in Alberta's Foothills costs $2.9M but promises never interrupted mountain views

A 704-square-foot home in southern Alberta is listed for an astounding $2.9 million.

Tucked away in the Foothills 90 kilometres west of Calgary lies a one-bedroom, 1.5-bath bungalow designed by the world-famous architect James Cutler, who designed Bill Gates' home.

The Rock House, as it's known, boasts a few novelty features.

See what the tiny home looks like, inside and out

7 years ago

Duration 3:20

A 1-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom bungalow located 90 km west of Calgary is listed at $2.9 million, even though it's just over 700 square feet large.

There's a trap door hidden in the kitchen floor. All of the glass was custom-made, and all of the metal beams werehand-soldered on site.

But the luxury property's biggest selling feature is its pristine viewof the Rocky Mountains which, thanks to a permanent conservation easement,can't ever be blocked, according to realtor Emma May.

The home, named Wallpaper Magazine's 2017 Cabin of the Year, is the first completed unit in a 283-hectare development known as Carraig Ridge, north of Ghost Lake.

The entire development is envisioned to be a "love story to the Foothills and to nature," May said.

A total of 44private lots, ranging in size from0.8 to two hectares, will complete the exclusive network of homes. Each one has been designed to blend seamlessly into the rolling grasslandsand flowing rivers that flank the area.

Next door to the site is a 600-hectarewilderness recreation site, which is protected by a conservation easement to ensure it is never developed.

"When you buy a lot out here and a house out here,you actually end up buying your view corridor, which will never be interrupted," May explained.

Luxurious or ludicrous?

Dieter Laub, who's lived in the area since 2006, agrees that the mountain vistas are spectacular. But he says they don't justify a $3-million price tag for a home this size.

"Personally, I find it kind of ridiculous," he said. "You must have money coming out of your ears."

But May says it's not all thatridiculous, especially compared to what's happening in other housing markets across the country.

"It's not crazy when you think of the piece of poo that you can buy in downtown Vancouver right now which needs to be torn down for $2 million," shesaid.

Architecture as art

May saidthe Rock Houseabides by a nonconventional standard of luxury one that isn't synonymous with grandiose "McMansions."

The entire development is centred on the premise that nature itself is luxury, May said.

"There's an infinite amount of land out here, but the concept behind this project, the character, is to preserve as much of the land that you can, and then to build within that natural footprint."

And she said a growing number of people are looking to buy properties like this, not to live in, but to admire as collector's pieces.

"They do become almost art projects in and of themselves.It's not just, as you say, a building," she said.

With files from Paul Karchut and the Calgary Eyeopener