Many of you probably know Patti Durand as the face behind the Humboldt Community Trails Association, an initiative she started in 2008 when Durand, a fitness enthusiast and avid runner, noticed the lack of trails around the city.
Durand seems to have a knack for that; becoming aware of metaphorical holes in the city and taking it upon herself to fix it.
In 2011, she thought of something else residents and newcomers may want: what if you could live on a beautiful strip of land with the feeling of a tranquil country living but be only a stone's throw away from the city?
So that year, Durand and her husband, Larry, founded Prairie View Properties.
The Durands, both agronomists by trade, know this field well, no pun intended.
In November of 2011, they bought the property for their future country neighbourhood, just one kilometre outside Humboldt.
It's 75 acres of rolling pasture, thick brushes, tall, sweeping trees, vast fields of canola and picturesque sunsets.
But Durand, ever the go-getter, felt that wasn't enough.
So Prairie View planted an additional 3000 trees, with the help of summer students, plus three kilometres of trails (a Durand signature) with geocaching, planted numerous bushes of dogwood, pin cherry, raspberries, burning bush and green ash to line the winding roadways through the subdivision.
And there's a pumpkin patch.
And a giant corn maze.
And a large pond attracting numerous water fowl for the enthusiastic bird-watcher.
And a playground in the works.
And, oh yes, she even put in a campfire circle so residents could have a place to relax and mingle on a cool summer's eve.
"I wanted to really bring out that sense of community, that closeness. And I wanted to do that through lots of green space for the community. It's all theirs to use," Durand said.
Currently there are 14 lots available in phase 1, with 22 planned for phase 2.
The spacious properties are ready to go, complete with power, water, gas and phone hook-ups.
Walking with Durand through the property, the feeling of peaceful isolation, where nature's beauty is within arm's reach, is palpable. And odd, considering it's just outside city limits.
"That's the feeling we wanted to give," Durand said.
As Durand excitedly walks along the gravel road, pointing out the different attractions of the neighbourhood, one thing is certain: her mind never stops.
"It's constantly go, go, go," she says, snapping her fingers in rapid succession. "Sometimes I drive Larry crazy with all the ideas I come up with."
But it seems to be exciting for her and has become a personal project, near and dear to her heart.
"I wanted to infuse something unique and personal into the area," she said. "Like 'where would I want to live? What would I want in a neighbourhood?'" she explained.
That's why the acreage is different from other subdivisions in Humboldt; it has Durand's own take on comfortable living, from every lot backing onto trails, to communal green space and even the signature autumn attraction, the corn maze.
Durand, who comes from small town living and knows the importance of giving back to community, has, naturally, stitched philanthropy into Prairie View's neighbourhood.
The pumpkin patch will be open to the community starting in the fall, with proceeds going to the Children's Hospital of Saskatchewan, set to be complete by 2016.
The corn maze will be a partnership between Prairie View and the Humboldt JCI, Partners Family Services, the city's Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter and Humboldt Community Services; all admission charged will go directly to those organizations, Prairie View keeping none of it.
And in typical Durand fashion, the corn maze won't just be your average corn maze because she plans on having a treasure hunt complete with a map and instructions given to kids who want to explore it. If time permits, Durand plans on turning it into a haunted corn maze once autumn hits.
"Corn is an annual but if it proves to be super popular, we might just have to do it every year," she said with a wry grin.
But that's for another story.
In the meantime, Durand is focused on selling some lots.
"We haven't sold any yet," Durand said, the overachiever trying to hide this slight frustration.
Hardly anything to worry about, considering the properties were established less than two years ago.
"People kept telling me 'you're doing too much'," she said. "I guess most developers don't take on the tasks that we do but I wanted to do a lot of it myself," she explained.
Some work is contracted out if needed but for the most part, Prairie View does more than its fair share.
Durand laughs.
"Some of the construction workers were rolling their eyes, pretty frustrated with me for the design of the roads," she said.
"Larry was like 'Patti, the roads are all winding and curving,'" she said. "I said 'I know! I planned it that way'. I didn't want just straight roads and a boring box of a subdivision. I wanted it to be rolling, like the area that surrounds it," she said.
Looking back on the venture, Durand is noticeably pleased and eager to see what the future holds.
"We weren't afraid of putting equity into this. There's always an element of risk with anything you take on but I guess my concern was more of when the lots would start selling versus it happening at all. I mean, of course they're going to sell. It's the perfect place to live," she explained.
So perfect, that the Durands are planning on buying one of the lots themselves.
"I have it all mapped out in my head," she chuckled, pointing to their desired lot, explaining what will go where.
With the anticipated success of Prairie View Properties, and the established success of the Humboldt Community Trails Association, Durand has obviously found her niche in giving residents alternative options, whether it be trails over sidewalks or spacious country living over cookie-cutter houses in suburbia.
To learn more on Prairie View Properties, go to pvproperties.ca.
