By Sandy Zalit
The first and only house Mark and Sandy Zalit have ever owned will soon be changing hands. The Cloverdale couple bought their small farm house on 184th Street, just north of 60th Avenue, in 1985 when Eaglecrest was just acreages full of trees.
Mark and Sandy’s house is nestled up against the powerlines and the couple keeps horses in a field there. In the following write up, Sandy reminisces on living in Cloverdale for nearly 40 years.
It’s time.
I never ever thought we would be here this long. This beautiful, old house was supposed to be our “first little house” until we moved to our big acreage down in South Langley or somewhere. But forty years later and we are still here.
When we bought the house in 1985, we really thought we had moved to the country. Big acreages dominated the landscape all down 184th Street. To our surprise and consternation, a few years after we moved in, the trees and houses across the street were removed and it soon became the Eaglecrest subdivision.
It was so hard watching the trees come down. We have some of the few remaining big trees in the area.
Although it wasn’t the dream farm we had hoped for, we were young and we soon made it our own little country oasis.
It’s a beautiful house inside and out. Mark is a contractor-renovator by trade, so any ideas that I came up with, he was able to implement. I love to decorate. So this was the perfect house to make those creative ideas come to life.
Putting it somewhere around a hundred years old, it was very important to us to honour the age and era of the original homestead. Decorating it with antiques, using warm golden tones, keeping the unique architectural designs—like the rounded ceilings and original wood floors, while tastefully adding in modern amenities—was sometimes a challenge.
When people walked into our home, I wanted them to feel like they were stepping back in time. There certainly aren’t many homes left like it in Cloverdale. It is a “work of heart” keeping the heritage feel to it.
The unique house has been known for a number of things over the years, but most notably, it has been known as the “horse house.” We have been very blessed for the last 35 years to be able to lease the acre under the power lines from the city for our horses.
The horses have been a huge part of the community for as long as they have been there. It is not unusual to have a dozen different groups of people over the course of the day stop by and offer a carrot or an apple to the horses. During COVID, we watched in amusement as families literally lined up for their turn to touch a velvety nose and offer a welcome treat.
The horses have added so much joy to the community. People young and old walk or drive to come for a horse visit. I think that they are the most photographed horses in all of Surrey.
Cloverdale has undergone so many changes in the past 40 years. It really is hard to maintain that close-knit community feel that we all want. Without a doubt the horses have become an incredibly important constant for the community.
A number of years ago, when our barn caught fire and burned down, the outpouring of love and support from the community was overwhelming. We were so grateful for the offers of help, the condolences, the cards, and people just taking the time to stop by and say how sorry they were that it happened. The most asked question? “Are the horses OK?” That’s what they really wanted to know.
I don’t really know what will become of this property and this wonderful old house when we leave. We would love to see another young family move in and raise their children here, but it all depends on who buys it, of course. The reality is, in today’s market, it may just be torn down to make room for something else.
We will be leaving with so many wonderful memories of Cloverdale and the people that make up this community. One thing is for sure though, those horses are definitely going to miss all the attention and treats.
We just really want to say thank you to the community of Cloverdale for making this such a great place to raise our kids and have our little farm.
For every person that offered an encouraging compliment or stopped by to see the horses, we thank you.