Edelweiss Village, a group of six chalets on a 50-acre site in Golden, B.C.Montayne
Nestled on an escarpment with expansive views of Kicking Horse Mountain in Golden, B.C., Edelweiss Village comprises six Swiss-inspired chalets on a 50-acre site. In July, Montayne, a real estate consulting and development group based in Canmore, Alta., seized the opportunity to invest in the midst of the Rocky and the Columbia Mountains.
“It’s really exciting times for the area,” says Devin Stephens, a partner at Montayne and a Canmore realtor, pointing at the recent surge of investment in Golden, including the expansion of the Trans-Canada Highway, as well two new offerings from the attractions and hospitality company Pursuit, the Golden Skybridge and the Railrider Mountain Coaster.
“We’ve seen this happen with most mountain markets, and Golden has been late to see this.”
The chalets were built in the early 1910s to provide permanent housing to the Swiss mountaineers hired by Canadian Pacific Railway to safely guide visitors in the mountains, a move that would boost tourism in the region.Montayne
But Edelweiss Village represents more than a prime investment opportunity.
Listed at $2.3-million, the property is one of the last remaining vestiges of the birth of modern mountaineering and mountain tourism in Canada.
“We’ve heard from many people within the town, as well as the mayor, that Golden wouldn’t be what it is today without Edelweiss Village,” says Colby Genoway, who is also a partner at Montayne.
In the early 1910s, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) built Edelweiss Village to provide permanent housing to the Swiss mountaineers the company hired to safely guide visitors in the mountains, a move that would boost tourism in the region.
One of the Swiss guides, Walter Feuz, bought the property in 1959, and it remained in his family since.
While the chalets were maintained in a fair condition, the buildings needed significant repairs, as rot had overtaken some of the intricate woodwork of the façades.Olaf Dijkstra/Olaf Dijkstra
“The family maintained the property for many years,” says Eddie Leigan, the seller’s realtor, noting that it was very important for his clients to find a buyer who’d look after Edelweiss Village. “This group that came together to purchase the property – it was clear they were a good fit.”
Indeed, the restoration of the chalets began shortly after Montayne acquired the site. “We would not have taken on the project if we didn’t see that we could potentially find a way to restore it,” Mr. Genoway says.
While the chalets were maintained in a fair condition, the buildings needed significant repairs, as rot had overtaken some of the intricate woodwork of the façades. “Buildings that are 100 years old need constant attention and work,” Mr. Genoway says. “And they can’t just be maintained, they need to be reinvested into.”
Although Montayne’s concrete plans for Edelweiss Village are still in the works, the group’s vision embraces the cultural significance of the site.
“Our vision is to blend Edelweiss’s history with modern amenities to create a unique and fun experience for locals and tourists,” Mr. Stephens says. “We want to build something that educates and also allows visitors to embrace the rich mountain culture and Canadian heritage.”
Despite this, the long-term preservation of the property remains in jeopardy.
A foundation is working to create a community heritage register for the area, which would pave the way to designating the site as a heritage asset and protecting it from demolition.Olaf Dijkstra/Olaf Dijkstra
Because Edelweiss Village is located just outside of the town of Golden, in the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, there is no heritage legislation in place to protect it.
Concerned about this, Illona Spaar, a Swiss-Canadian historian and author based in Vancouver, co-founded Swiss Edelweiss Village Foundation, a non-profit organization conceived in 2022 to raise awareness and ensure the preservation of the site.
“The Swiss mountain guides took on the strongest role when it came to impacting the mountain culture for which the Canadian Rocky Mountains are so famous for,” Ms. Spaar says, noting that the expertise these guides brought to Canada was key for the successful introduction of mountain tourism in Western Canada.
Currently, Ms. Spaar’s foundation is working to create a community heritage register for the area, which would pave the way to designating the site as a heritage asset and protecting it from demolition. But doing that takes time and will eventually require the owner’s buy-in.
“We are working with a heritage consultant,” Ms. Spaar says. “It’s quite a large process. So we’re working toward that.”
This problem isn’t unique to Edelweiss Village – nor to B.C.
According to Chris Wiebe, a manager of heritage policy and government relations at the National Trust for Canada, designating heritage sites in rural areas is an ongoing challenge. Across Western Canada, culturally significant properties such as grain elevators, barns, bridges, as well as natural landscapes, are at risk of being lost due to a lack of heritage protections.
“Smaller rural municipalities don’t necessarily have the capacity to put resources toward trying to understand and protect important places,” Mr. Wiebe says. “Canada doesn’t have very many financial resources … to try to sustain and provide a future for places that are significant and viable, like the Edelweiss cabins.”
Moreover, because access to the patchwork of federal, provincial and municipal programs across the country isn’t always straightforward, rural property owners might not be aware of the resources available to maintain designated heritage properties, such as tax credits and rehabilitation grants.
“Historic places in rural areas need more attention in Canada,” Mr. Wiebe says. “There’s a lot of attention in urban areas right now, just in terms of the housing challenges and thinking about density – but we shouldn’t forget about rural areas.”
Olaf Dijkstra/Olaf Dijkstra