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SIDEBAR How an unknown outpost becomes a cottage havenSavary Island was a summer retreat for Coast Salish tribes long before it became a cottage haven. The skinny sandy strip at the north end of B.C.'s Georgia Strait is having one of its biggest building booms since cottagers started arriving about 90 years ago.
It's long overdue, if you ask realtor Rick Thaddeus. "Why it's taken so long baffles me," said Thaddeus, one of Savary's 80 or so permanent residents. About 90 miles and two ferry rides north of Vancouver, Savary lacks electricity and car access but draws some 2,000 summer visitors. Most own or rent cottages - the bulk of the island's development.
It wasn't always this busy. Trader John (Jack) Green became Savary's first permanent resident in 1886. Few visitors or residents followed until after 1910, when developers carved up close to two-thirds of the island into 50-foot-wide lots. Parcels went for $100 and up.
Similar sales efforts over the years contributed to Savary's building spurts. Little existed at Indian Point to the west until after 1965, when developers hawked the lots there in Vancouver malls and fairs for $10 down and $10 a month.
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