A Stunning, Eclectic Spec Home in Edmonton

Name: Lita Lee, Mike Martin & their four children
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Size: 2,300 square feet
Years lived in: 3 years, owned

My name is Lita Lee, my husband’s name is Mike Martin and we have four kids to keep us on our toes! Besides being a full-time mama I started a diary of our home on Instagram called Crave Interiors. We had been living in a home in Winnipeg that we built and lived in for six years. We built a very basic home and upgraded everything ourselves…and I mean we did all the renos on evenings and weekends when we had time. We completely finished the basement, all the landscaping, laid down high-end laminate flooring on the entire main floor and basement. We painted the entire house, tiled…the list goes on. We learned tonnes and saved tonnes!

In July of 2014, my husband Mike and I packed up our four kids in Winnipeg and planned to spend a summer in Edmonton while he worked there. I was going to get to know the city and see if I would consider a permanent move.

Several weeks prior to this, Mike and I had flown out to Edmonton to tee up a rental. I remember one day we were driving around getting a feel for the city and found this beautiful neighborhood. We drove onto a street that only had a couple houses built on it and right at the end was an amazing house.

After our summer in a rental, Mike’s company asked if he would consider staying in Edmonton and moving, and I was totally down! He went back to Winnipeg to put our house on the market while I stayed and held down the fort in Edmonton in the rental.

In two weeks Mike had us all packed, the house staged and drove a U-Haul with everything we owned back to Edmonton. Our house in Winnipeg sold the first day on the market and our sweat equity from renovating paid off: We ended up with a six-figure profit. We were on top of the world when we went to a spec-home builder in Edmonton called Kimberley Homes.

The sales lady was awesome! Though the first house we saw was meh, we got quite the surprise when walking to the second house. Remember when I told you about the amazing house in a beautiful neighborhood that made me want to move to Edmonton? When we turned the corner to go see the second house, I immediately recognized the street. My heart started to pound and I asked the sales lady, “Amie which house are we going to see?” She pointed and said “that house.” I was holding back my overwhelming happiness because it was that house! The house I had fallen in love with all the way back in May. We bought it.

This house is stunning. It’s a spec home but has some high-end finishes. And there’s loads of potential along with 2300 square feet of canvas…plus a basement.

We’ve been in it now for three and a half years, and we’re doing essentially the same thing we did in Winnipeg. We’ve done all the landscaping, remodeled the basement, added an office, updated lighting, painted, etc…an endless list. We have also started to build our own furniture.

Thanks, Lita !

• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour & House Call Submission Form.