Island Living

But there is a group of people already living that life. Not all are retirees from Toronto who cashed out homes in one of the world’s priciest real estate markets, but a mixed group of retirees, young professionals and even singles live on Bob-Lo Island.

“People work and save up all this money to take a vacation, but it’s a week,” says Gena Boschin, a Bob-Lo resident who also works sales and marketing for Bob-Lo Island Developments. “But the residents here get to escape year-round, because this is an island.”

Currently, Bob-Lo residents live in the fully-planned residential development on the north shore of the island. But prospective buyers are eyeing the soon-to-be-developed south end. The entire master concept comprises roughly five kilometres in circumference on 272 acres. Boschin focuses on Bob-Lo’s natural amenities that offer its residents and visitors alike the chance to explore 56 species of birds, families of deer, bald eagles, trails, an expansive green space and sandy beaches. That experience, courtesy of Mother Nature, is priceless, Boschin says. And it doesn’t come at the expense of needed amenities.

This really is everyone’s number one dream location. It’s four minutes to the convenience of historic Amherstburg. If you need your pants hemmed, if you need to go to the doctor – anything you need we have access to. Then we get to go home to a place that’s a dream.

What’s available is a variety of award-winning housing options, including one-bedroom Harbourview Condominium units just under 1,000 square feet for $174,900; two-bedroom townhouses from $268,000; or detached homes with unlimited possibilities. Most homes are built in the New England style of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard or a Craftsman style, but Boschin says the in-house design team of Amico Design Build Inc. can accommodate almost any request.

“We can build anything anyone wants,” Boschin says. “We have an in-house design team and someone can come in with a design on a napkin and we can deal with it.”

An island is a common vacation destination, but Boschin knows some people may translate its escape factor as too inconvenient for everyday life. She says she’s living the reality and that it’s anything but. The island’s ferry operates between the island and Amherstburg every 20 minutes, every day of the year. Like many other parents, she drives her children to tennis, soccer and birthday parties across Essex County to suburban Detroit. The drive, she says, is similar to what many families face, but at the end of the day she lives the island life.

Bob-Lo Island resident Eric Farron, a tool-and-die professional, is also passionate about life on Bob-Lo. For years he saw the island passing by as a boater or visiting friends, but when he had the opportunity to have the destination house he pictured for his family – he grabbed the chance.

For those big days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Thanksgiving I wanted a place for us to gather where everyone would want to be. At first there were those thoughts that maybe it would be inconvenient because of the ferry, but it only takes four minutes. So this has worked for us.

Farron talks about the island as a community. He says he felt that in other places he’s lived, but never more so than on the island. “We live in our backyard during the summer,” he says. “And everyone knows everyone here. It’s a tight community. We’re all really, really close friends because we all have something in common. We live on an island together.”

That togetherness will work for some, but others may choose a quieter life on Bob-Lo, and that’s fine, Boschin says. The island features one of the last remaining blockhouses that held soldiers from the War of 1812. There’s a historically designated lighthouse, the Bob-Lo Island Beachhouse restaurant, a marina, Captain Bob’s Ice Cream Shack, SouthBeach WaterSports, and, without traffic, couples often walk the beaches enjoying the more slow-paced life they moved to Bob-Lo to find.

“It’s not an amusement park anymore and it hasn’t been for 30 years,” Boschin says. “You can live the life you want right now versus working to be able to live that life sometime later because you’re so busy.”

It costs $10 for a return ferry trip to the island. Boschin encourages anyone curious about life on Bob-Lo to come check it out. Anyone who attends an open house doesn’t pay the ferry fee. Boschin knows the housing plans will impress with views she claims will trump condominiums on Riverside Drive, and she encourages people to understand Bob-Lo isn’t a down-the-road option.

“If you’re looking for the big house on the water, you can buy the big house surrounded by water,” she says. “Or, if you want to downsize, you can.”

That ferry ride from the Amherstburg dock, Boschin says, is the start of seeing-is-believing. For the residents, Bob-Lo is a secret they’re willing to share. It’s an open club of island and marina life that’s available for anyone right now. And, once you’ve come to take a look, Boschin says, you’ll be struck. “You feel like you’ve arrived someplace special,” she says, “somewhere you just need to be.”