One-storey living on two floors

Indigenous plants will require no watering, and stormwater will be directed back into the ground. A previous Hazelwood project, Pinewood Lane, received a 2005 City of Nanaimo design award for landscaping.

The site is zoned for 355 units, including single-family strata lots and multi-family homes, as well as the town houses, but Whittaker says: "We probably will not build that many because we want to keep it unique and natural so there's lots of space."

Ocean Pearl Terrace, the main road that winds through the site, was built to skirt around the rock bluffs. It's like driving in the country, says Whittaker; however, unlike country roads, this one is made of concrete. Access roads to each phase will mean that there are no driveways off the main road and homes will be shielded from view.

Hazelwood has sought out natural building materials and local suppliers. The rock used on exteriors and fireplaces is metamorphic sandstone quarried on Vancouver Island. The maple floors are milled and finished in Canada, and the hemlock banister railings are dried and kilned on the West Coast. The maple and bamboo cabinetry is custom-made by Benson Industries in Victoria. Quartz countertops in the kitchens and ensuites are manufactured by the family-owned and -operated Cambria company in Minnesota.

There is also an emphasis on sustainability and energy efficiency. The siding is moisture-and fire-resistant fibre-cement HardiPlank, and homes are being built to a Platinum Ener-Guide rating.

All have generous southern exposures for maximum light, low-E floorto-ceiling windows, HVAC heat pumps for even cooling and heating, gas-fired on-demand hot water and water-saving fixtures. Rockwood Heights homes meet the latest engineering seismic standards and include fibre optic wiring for high-speed voice, Internet and video connections.

There are a couple of variations in the floor plans, but all homes have the same number of rooms. On the ground floor, there is an open-plan living area with a kitchen, dining room and great room with a soaring 18-foot ceiling, an enclosed den, powder room, laundry room and garage. Upstairs are two bedrooms and two baths.

"We like to build something that the community is proud of and people will be comfortable in," says Whittaker, who has been in the construction industry for 50 years. Rockwood Heights is his third development in Nanaimo; the first two were Floral Woods and Pinewood Lane. Three of the Rockwood Heights town houses are built, and the foundations for the remaining nine are in place.