Hastings House Project

Les Hirondelles
697 Rainbow Road,
Salt Spring Island, B. C

January 22, 2002

To Whom it May Concern:

We're the proud owners of a beautiful home built by Derek Sowden and his Strait Construction crew.

The house was started in March 2001 and progressed according to schedule until completion in December2001. Throughout the building process, Derek was consistently responsive to our special requests and completely reliable. The house was finished on budget and we felt that Derek always tried to get the best prices from suppliers and sub-contractors.

Since we designed our own home, this created some special problems for the builder who had to reconcile our amateur designs with practical construction needs. Derek's creativity in fulfilling our dream was a constant source of pleasure and satisfaction to us both. No problem was insurmountable.

If you are considering Derek as your builder, we would welcome any prospective client of Derek Sowden and Strait Construction to view our home and see what a fine job they did.

We have no hesitation whatever in recommending him as a first-rate contractor who has displayed honesty, integrity and skill.

Yours sincerely,

Erica and Colin Ross

Shirley Davidson
441 Sky  Valley Road
Salt Spring Is., B.C.

April 6, 1999

Hello and love to you both:

You said Tom was coming out soon to talk to contractors about building their home on Channel Ridge, I feel I would be remiss if I did not give you the name of a builder that Jerry and I would highly recommend. (Our house was built by a man who is reputed to be one of the best builders on the Island and we believe this to be true, however if we were to build again we would choose Derek Sowden, in a flash, I think Tom might like the opportunity to interview Derek along with whomever else he, or you, have lined up. Derek is a superb builder, an extremely hard worker (everyone says of Derek, you will get more than your day's work from him) plus he is reliable, conscientious, honest and as a bonus one of the nicest people you ever hope to work with and to be around. His sense of humour is the icing - he is great fun. His costs are what the normal going rates are. Man, he should be paying me for this!

At present Derek is building a two-building complex encompassing seven additional units for Hastings House. He also built the new home of the present Hastings House owners

Jerry met Derek at the sailing club, he is in his early forties, I would guess. He put the small addition on our kitchen and that is how we got to know Derek and his workmanship first hand.

I wish Sally and Tom an enjoyable building experience and with all that entails, as you know, this is not an easy happening to come by. With Derek I believe one would have every chance of it being a win-win situation.


Sincerely,


Shirley

["Tom" and "Sally" are pseudonyms]

Bonny O'Connor & Gerald T. Parks, Jr.
292 Rainbow Road
Salt Spring Island, B.C.

January 8, 1998

RE: Derek Sowden Custom Homes & C.P.E. Management

To Whom it May Concern:

Derek Sowden and Peter Elsser teamed up to build our 2300 square-foot home at the above address. Construction was begun as soon as, last winter's weather permitted in January, and we moved in three weeks after their projected completion date, third week in August. (The delay was due entirely to the, non-performance of one major subcontractor … ). Their workmanship is very good, and Derek has been very responsive in correcting- minor warranty items.

Derek and Peter were extremely helpful in obtaining our required permits and dealing with the inspection authorities. They conducted themselves in a very professional manner, as regards pricing and billing, and were cooperative in finding suppliers and selecting finishes, as we were working without a local architect.

With the exception of the above noted subcontractor, we would highly recommend this team for any construction protect of this size and scope.

Respectfully yours,

Bonny O'Connor & Jerry Parks