54229 Bellerose Dr
Sturgeon County, AB T8T 0J1
186 Acre Residential Development Opportunity · Land For Sale · 186.00 AC

186 Acre Residential Development Opportunity! Primed for high-density development with the Sturgeon County Area Structure Plan allowing for a minimum of 35 units per net-developable acre. This single parcel offering, which is located within St. Albert's maximum potential annexation area, and only 400 meters from the municipal boundary, presents a rarely available development opportunity. The Property is situated along the banks of the Sturgeon River in an amenity-rich area within minutes of major power centres, schools, parks, public transportation, and the Sturgeon Valley Golf and County Club. The surrounding area offers a stable housing market in the communities of Erin Ridge, Oakmont and Kingswood, with all seeing rapid growth in residential and commercial developments. Two single-family homes occupy the Property - an architecturally significant primary with 3600 gross sq. ft. and a tenanted secondary home with 964 sq. ft. Located within 3 KM's of Costco and Sturgeon Hospital, and only 11 KM's to CFB Edmonton. Spectacular location with 3 key access points - St. Albert Trail / HWY 2 (5 mins), Anthony Henday (8 mins), HWY 37 (7 mins). Once-in-a-lifetime a trophy property like Sturgeon River Ranch comes to market. First time on the market, this sprawling mid-century ranch estate with stables and caretaker’s house literally sits nestled right beside the city of St. Albert. While you’re a mere five minutes from Costco and three minutes further to St. Albert Centre, you’re zero minutes from the heart of country living. Flanked by a forest on one side and the Sturgeon River on the other, this bucolic estate with its main house perched on a hill sees deer graze daily on the front lawn, birds flock overhead and coyotes meander stealthily by. The land, purchased in 1963 by lumber baron Cecil Ross—son of Hales Ross, one of the Leduc Seven behind Alberta’s famed oil discovery in 1947—became a famous horse breeding ranch, after Ross and business partner Walter Sprague (Bill Don Stable) won the Canadian Derby with Western Morn. Ross opened the stables with four brood mares (and Baffin Bay) from the legendary E.P. Taylor in Toronto of Winfield Farms, owner of the famed Northern Dancer. Ross also acquired a stallion named Maxinkuckee, who was sired by a famous Irish racehorse named Santa Clause. For a time, Ross owned Black Angus cattle, but eventually the thoroughbreds remained the heart and soul of this iconic ranch, which achieved success on the Alberta Racing Circuit from 1967 to 1984 both as a breeding stable and a winning stable. The main house—designed by Ross’s son, Bill, in his second year of architecture school—serves as a pristine example of a mid-century gem, a style which is fast becoming rare collectible architecture. The low-slung bungalow’s original hexagon-shaped rooms came out of a 1960s architecture experiment: the architect had been exploring the social benefits of circular rooms (think teepees), which he felt were more conducive to conversation and gatherings. Riffing on the traditional circle, Ross chose elongated hexagons for the public spaces throughout the home. A generation later, the family wanted to pay homage to the round, pounded-copper fireplace that dramatically divided the kitchen from the family room so they introduced a striking new hand-hammered copper hood fan that rests above a commercial six-burner FiveStar range, while stainless-steel mosaic tiles decorate the backsplash. Honed Bianco Carrara marble counters lend sophistication, while an expansive butler’s pantry ties in with the kitchen. Custom sage-green cabinets honour the original wood walls and ceiling throughout, while simultaneously tying in with the kaleidoscopic green, grey and red slate floor sourced in Vermont from one of the last quarries in North America to carry this rare slate. The design, called “crazy pattern,” feels suitably ranch-appropriate and you’ll fnd the exact same vintage flooring handiwork found at the Jasper Park Lodge. The original layout may appear random but it actually came from a template; forty years later, those templates have either been lost or the trades practicing them have all but disappeared. Ross found a retired craftsman familiar with the lost art of hand-cutting and laying each piece like a haphazard jigsaw puzzle. The result is a surface that’s a veritable work of art. Over the years, the ranch has seen children and grandchildren flourish: from skidoo riding, horse-drawn sleigh rides at New Year’s and cross-country skiing in winter to motorbike riding, riverside picnics and bush parties in the nearby forest come summer. This is a legacy property for the ages and the time has come to pass it along to the next generation—one who can appreciate its rare glory, its illustrious history and tremendous future potential. A true ecological marvel. Whether multi-generational trophy property or a buy-and-hold developer dream, don’t wait on this one—you can own a bit of storied Alberta history today.