UNTIL RECENTLY, Rose Keith's dream of owning a cottage in the Gulf Islands looked like a long shot -- a privilege reserved for those blessed with inheritance or excellent stock tips. In the last few years, B.C.'s southern archipelago has become as much a playground for rich humans as for orcas and sea lions, with oceanfront lots commanding more than $700,000 and buyers flocking from the U.S. and Europe to retire in paradise. Keith and her husband Bart Bender, by contrast, were working demanding jobs in Vancouver to support 11-month-old twin girls. "It wasn't," the 37-year-old lawyer admits, "the best time for us to go looking."
But when a friend alerted her earlier this year to a unique-sounding opportunity on Pender Island, Keith's pulse quickened. Rather than competing for existing properties, she and Bender could buy a quarter share of a cottage overlooking Otter Bay, a nook on the island's west shore, where small ferries putter back and forth and herons stand like sentries on the tide lines. For about $140,000, plus annual maintenance fees, they'd get 12 weeks a year -- including two weeks in the summer -- in a tastefully decorated cottage while a management company looked after cleaning the eaves and waxing the floors. Unlike common time-shares, which confer right of use but no title to the land, their so-called "fractional ownership" would give them a portion of the entire 31-unit development. Keith remained nervous about acquiring a second residence, but as she perused the brochures, she couldn't help thinking of her previous visits to the Gulf Islands. Soaring eagles. Breaching whales. Warm afternoons on the water.