A dream comes true: Larry Watt’s house on the river

KUUJJUAQ — For years Larry Watt dreamed of the day when he would own his own home.

“It’s been a plan of mine ever since I was in school,” Watt said. “And I wanted it to be unique.”

This summer, Watt, 29, finally built his dream house, overlooking the Koksoak River in Kuujjuaq.

“I made sure that all the windows look over the river,” Watt said.

At the end of October, Watt, his wife, and their two young children will move out of his family’s much older, tiny home that once stood in the former community of Old Chimo.

They’ll happily move into their new 2800-square-foot home with three large bedrooms, two baths, a study, playroom, a living room with soaring cathedral ceiling, a spacious dining room-kitchen and wrap-around deck.

The $240,000 dream house also includes hardwood floors, a whirlpool bath- for two, a wood stove, new appliances and even new furniture.

The fully-serviced 30 square-metre lot will cost Watt only $1 a year over the term of his 15-year lease from Kuujjuaq’s local landholding corporation.

But Watt still had to scrimp and save in order to have enough money to see his dream come true.

“I sacrificed buying a new truck and a skidoo,” Watt said. “It really meant giving up some nice things because I wanted to build.”

Watt invested his savings in his new home, but he will also get some financial help from the government of Quebec that’s designed to make home ownership more attractive.

Watt qualified for a $79,000 grant to help with construction costs, and will get another $7000 a year for 15 years to cover municipal taxes.

This money is part of a five-year, $25-million program that the Quebec government announced in April, 1999 to boost home ownership in Nunavik.

The program, which provides grants of up to $125,000 for construction and up to $50,000 for renovations, is intended to build up a stock of privately owned and maintained homes in the region, as well as to develop some badly-needed alternatives to social housing.

Over the next five years 700 new households in Nunavik are expected to be on the look-out for private housing.

Right now, there are only about 30 private homes in all of Nunavik, and the supply of new social housing is limited. That’s why government officials at every level would like to see at least 200 Nunavimmiut build new homes by 2003.

But this summer, only three families in Kuujjuaq took advantage of the government programs to build, while two more decided to renovate existing dwellings.

According to the Kativik Regional Government, which administers the home ownership program, Quebec announced the new program too late for it to have any real impact this year. Next year the KRG hopes to attract 30 new clients.

Watt said that he’s already received queries from potential homeowners who are curious about home building. He tells them that it’s a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

Watt played around with the house’s design on a computer program until the lay-out was just right, visited Montreal three times to chose the building materials he wanted, and stayed involved with every aspect of the construction.

When his dream house is ready, he plans to throw a huge housewarming party. Then, Watt will start thinking of his future plans for landscaping his lot and building a garage.

A young university graduate, with a good job at the Makivik Corporation, Watt said that he would have felt guilty about living in a low-cost social housing unit.

Watt doesn’t think it’s fair that many Nunavik families with excellent incomes still live in social housing, when others with limited incomes need it more.

“I said, if I can afford to build a home, I’ll do it,” Watt said.

Watt hopes that more wage-earners in Nunavik will follow his example.