A warm family home near the river.

We fell for the location first. The house sits a short walk from the Bow River pathways and backs right onto a path that feeds into the whole river system — mornings here can start with a walk or a ride straight from the back gate. Quarry Park has been a genuinely easy place to live: a quiet street, established trees, and an easy walk to the Quarry Park Market — Starbucks, The Park restaurant, and plenty of other shops and amenities — with downtown close at hand.

Inside, the main floor is built for the way a family actually lives — an open kitchen and great room around the gas fireplace, a walk-through pantry that hides the mess, and a glassed-in office by the front door. Upstairs holds four bedrooms, including a big, bright primary with a five-piece ensuite and walk-in closet, and the finished basement adds a second family room, a home gym, and two more bedrooms. It's a Cardel home we specified well above standard in 2010, and we've kept improving it every year since.

Where this house really shines is outside. A composite deck sits under a cedar trellis with roll-down shade screens and a built-in outdoor kitchen, then wraps around in broad steps down to a stamped-concrete patio with a fire table at its centre. The fenced yard has hosted more summer dinners and birthdays than we can count.