Scroll down the page for more pics and info about showings
Monkey Valley is priced to sell at just $598,900. This unique house and property is 160 acres of paradise just 3½ hours from Vancouver, with a creek-front, unique, 3-bedroom, 2-bath home, with two extra showers and five outhouses for having huge parties (or private retreats)! Totally self-sufficient, the home is solar-powered with generator back-up, enjoys cool, clear underground spring water, and keeps toasty with wood heat and propane back-up. This million-dollar dream of a property is priced almost $300K below the actual value for the land and buildings.
The 1,550-sqare-foot home blends the rustic charm of a log cabin and loft with elegant features like stained glass windows and an antique claw-foot bathtub. The top photo shows the new cinnamon-mocha wide-plank hardwood flooring I just had installed as the finishing touch in the main room of the log cabin part of the house. Click it for a larger view. Stunning! This room also features a skylight and windows on three sides. 
One of the bathrooms has black slate flooring, and the entryway has warm-coloured stone flooring. There’s a modern addition with a huge double shower in the downstairs bathroom, and an enormous master bedroom with windows in every direction. Step through the door onto a private deck for your morning coffee when you’ve got company. Or enjoy the lower deck overlooking the creek.
There’s a 5,000-square-foot barn, shop, or activity centre. This ½ mile by ½ mile quarter-section has varied terrain, including the creek winding and splashing down the valley, forests of pine, fir, and aspen, lush green meadows, and hills to climb. The property is fully fenced, with a granite-bouldered rockface forming a natural boundary on the west edge of the property. This exquisitely tranquil piece of BC wilderness is suited to year-round living or a vacation get-away, horse farm, cattle ranch (it was originally homesteaded by cattle ranchers), or retreat centre. 
This is a turn-key solution for a vacation property, as I am selling the home with furnishings included.
All the modern conveniences
There’s cell phone service in the house and at many places on the property. There’s satellite internet and TV if you want it, or just use your smart phone for email. The solar power system has provided all the power I’ve needed. Hot water is provided by a Bosch on-demand flow-through heater. There is also solar-heated hot water with a propane hot water tank for back-up. This system is sized to accommodate groups of 25 people. As you can see, there’s a year’s supply of split firewood in the woodshed, and unlimited firewood on the property.
Keep scrolling down the page, or click these links, to read some other postings about the property:
- A virtual tour of the Monkey Valley house – Pictures and descriptions
- Monkey Valley history – Condensed story of the past 12 years at Monkey Valley
- Leaving Monkey Valley – What I’ll be doing next
- How Monkey Valley got its name
- Finding Monkey Valley
- The first sign of Starshine Way – The story of the Starshine Way road and sign (4 entries)
Outdoor entertainment
The property and surrounding countryside offer every type of outdoor entertainment, recreation, leisure activity, and adventure. See the stars and Milky Way like you’ve never seen them before. Occasionally the Northern Lights are even on display. Swim in the creek, hike the property and surrounding areas, visit the many nearby lakes, go trail running or biking, horse-back riding—you name it. In the winter, enjoy cross-country skiing, snow-mobiling, and snow-shoeing. But watch out for the odd moose cruising through the neighbourhood! And of course the birds and wild-life are ever-present. Visitors are enchanted by the countless varieties of wildflowers, berries, and lichens.
Privacy
Did I mention this property is completely private? It is surrounded on all sides by crown land. The nearest neighbour is 30 KM away. Because of the unique geographical features of the property, it is truly a hidden valley. People never even suspect it is there. So if you want a truly quiet, private home or vacation property, you won’t find more privacy than this. This property is the only one of its kind in the region. It’s unheard of to find a whole quarter-section, this private and self-sufficient, this close to Vancouver.
Nearby activities and events
Of course this area is famous for “A lake a day, as long as you stay.” There are dozens of places to fish within an hour’s drive in any direction. Kane Valley is a world-famous cross-country skiing and biking destination. Merritt, the Country Music Capital of Canada, has the Merritt Mountain Music Festival and the Merritt rodeo. Princeton has thoroughbred horse-racing, an air show, an agricultural fall fair, and a traditional music festival. Both cities have many other activities year-round and are thriving communities. There is also a solid community at the south-east end of Missezula Lake. This is true country living.
This beautiful private acreage is located between Princeton and Merritt, BC. It is situated between the breath-taking lakes of Kentucky-Alleyne Provincial Park and Missezula Lake. Just 45 minutes to Merritt, 1½ hours to Princeton or Kelowna.
To view the property
Call Karen to view. 604.251.6337. Or email kyrempel@shaw.ca.
Special note for realtors: a $10,000 signing bonus goes to you for bringing an offer on this property for the asking price or higher.
Selling Features Monkey Valley is a self-sufficient, off-grid home and 160 acres. It is probably the most unique solar-powered home for sale in BC right now. It is a very private property located in the wilderness near Aspen Grove, BC, between Merritt and Princeton. The closest lakes are Kentucky Lake, Alleyne Lake, Loon Lake, and Missezula Lake. In fact, if you follow Shrimpton Creek south from the property line, Missezula Lake is less than a mile away. This very private property offers a sustainable, green home and acreage that you can live in year-round, or use as a vacation or recreational property. It is also an ideal investment property, as the land only increases in value and it is extremely rare to find such a private, pristine property so close to Vancouver and Kelowna. Rural land for sale is common enough, but to find a quarter section of fully fenced ranch land with no neighbouring properties is very unusual. The fencing, 5,000-square-foot barn, year-round creek, and grassland make it an ideal horse or cattle property. This remote acreage also has timber that can be logged, and it is surrounded by crown timber land. The 3-bedroom house is one-of-a-kind, blending an old-fashioned log cabin with a modern addition that offers all the comforts of solar power, cell phone service, and internet. The home, barn, and outbuildings are clad in country-style board-and-batten of Princeton fir. If you’re looking for creek-front real estate, you’ll love this home that’s more peaceful than most waterfront properties. Sound carries over water, so if you share a lake with neighbours, it’s never fully quiet and peaceful. This ecoproperty is the only land for sale near the Kentucky-Alleyne Provincial Park, and it is accessible for RVs. This could be a holiday property for a group of families who enjoy RVing in the wilderness. This unique character property is located at the north end of the Cascades foothills, in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
I loved my experiences here: exploring the medicine wheel, going on a short vision quest, and simply hanging out. There is such a variety of terrain. It is magical. I never felt hemmed in. I loved the north/south orientation of the valley and climbing up one of the ridges to take in the vista. There was even vista on the valley floor as I looked in all directions during our medicine wheel. I came upon gorgeous solitary rocks, red-tailed hawks, and a depth of quiet that allowed me to hear the burbles of the creek. And of course the wonderful darkness that let the night sky fill with stars. A beautiful place that I hope will be cherished by whomever is lucky enough to be its steward.
Having read most of the posted comments, I do verify the literal truth revealed in those comments. Marvin really summed it up! The remembering of all my joyful times at Monkey Valley, since Karen and I first viewed it prior to Karen purchasing it, back in 2000, has my heart and soul feeling so expansive. I am blinking through the tears to write this.
Fence repair of the entire 160 acres really brought home what a wonderful, large, diversely beautiful piece of paradise Monkey Valley really is. The medicine wheel retreat brought such a varied group of like-minded people, all enthralled with the peace and beauty of the place.
I have 30 years of equestrian experience, having owned up to 12 horses myself at one time, and boarding up to 20 or 30 horses on my ranch in the Cariboo. Monkey Valley is a dream place for people who enjoy horses. Pasture, grazing, wonderful trails that go on forever, fully fenced, and a barn that’s easy to set up for horse-keeping. This is a much better alternative than the high cost of horse-keeping in the urban areas.
Blessings to the new family who buys this place known to us as Monkey Valley. We, Karen’s family and friends, have shared in the experiencing of all the seasons of this true wilderness place. With joy and sadness we pass the torch to the people of Monkey Valley’s next chapter. Love it as we have!
Donnette
What beautiful land…and how awesome to see what you have been grounded by. Thank you for the look into your space…and I must imagine that it is difficult to let go of such magnificence.
John
Memories and impressions of Monkey Valley
This little valley, tucked in obscurity but revealed to the open sky, this wrinkle in the body of the earth enfolded by forested ridges and cradled by meadows and marsh reeds along the Shrimpton Creek, holds hints of the human touch both from a remoter past and the more immediate present in the form of a rambling house, partly log cabin. Just getting there feels like voyaging into a hidden realm as you leave the highway, pass beautiful lakes of a provincial park, wind along forestry service roads and finally reach the gate that opens onto a slope leading down into the valley that you would not have suspected was there, had you remained on that highway and shot on past. Later, after sunset, sitting inside by a crackling fire, you are filled with a mysterious contentment, ancient instincts for safety satisfied, while the deep dark wild surrounds your oasis of light and warmth, until the return of day opens the world again.
The land itself has been returning to wilderness for some time now after the earlier human inhabitants carved out their mark upon it, where remnants reveal old wooden fences, impressions of the ranch it was or might have been, if you wish to imagine it so. Cattle still roam in the surrounding areas. Meanwhile, deer, birds and other creatures remind you that others live here too. Crickets sing in summer heat, the creek gurgles quietly to itself, dappled shadows run from the sun. Winter is crystal and still, bright by day in dazzle, cold and clear by night, when moonlit walks are recommended to those who dare.
I’ve stood on the deck of the cabin and looked out on this little valley both summer and winter, when the land has been covered with tawny dry grasses and when it has been covered in snow. I once wandered in a long rambling walk around much of the land, making my way in late spring through crunching snow along the dark bare patches of ice-free creek, following tracks of deer and cattle, down to where the stream meets a lake on the other side of a country road. Then I turned and toiled up the bony shoulder of a hill flanking the side of the valley, following the ridge line back along the top, now well above the river which lay invisible below. I continued on past the entrance road and meandered in a kind of upland, at that time thickly populated with tiny trees, visited by light flurries of flakes skittish and briefly swirling before vanishing, then finally made my way down where the little creek enters the valley, working through thickets, listening to the muffled mutters of hidden birds as I found ways around mud and marsh. Eventually I made it back to the cabin again, having spent nearly the whole day and yet still not really circumnavigating the full scope of the property.
You can find perfect solitude here or you can bring your friends. You can wander the woods or eat, drink and dance the night away. I’ve experienced both ends of this spectrum in Monkey Valley, both roaming in solitude and ushering in a new year with friends, dancing to the Rolling Stones. We’ve sat in lawn chairs, drinking tea outdoors, surrounded by winter’s white as we inquired into our several mysteries, illuminated at least externally by the intensely reflecting snow–a mad hatter’s tea party, only in parkas and toques. I’ve climbed a notched log (which was pretending to be a ladder) inside the warmly glowing cabin, which in turn was lit by electricity provided from a tiny room full of batteries charged by the sun that very day. I’ve soaked in steaming baths arranged by mysterious coils of plumbing that offer just-in-time hot water, the water itself previously pumped from an underground spring that joins the creek which flows through the heart of the valley.
The heart of that valley now waits for you.
I’m sorry to see you selling this, Karen. It looks so fabulous! I wish Seamus and I could buy it. We would love it there surrounded by nature and all its wonderful smells, sights, and sounds.
The best thing about Monkey Valley is the quiet! No neighbours, no traffic, just peace. I’ve visited Monkey Valley a number of times over the years that Karen has owned it (helped her clean out the barn!), and have loved the the calm that comes over me when I get that far away from everything. It’s amazing!
I have been lucky enough to spend many vacation days at Monkey Valley and think it is an ideal location to spend my holidays. I have stayed here in all four seasons and Monkey Valley has something beautiful to offer no matter the season. Karen has a truly incredible piece of paradise here and I will be sad to see it go. I think whoever the new owner will be, she or he will be getting a private, peaceful retreat to enjoy as a vacation home or a year-round residence. I wish it could be me!
If you’ve been to Monkey Valley, please write your comments here. Or if you have a comment about the blog entry or video. Thanks!