If a new semi-detached home near Chambly interests you, the room that matters most may be neither the kitchen nor the primary bedroom: it may be the corner where you work.

A good share of Chambly commuters spend a lot of time on the road. Working from home on some days lets you win part of that time back, provided you have a proper space for it. Here is what a house with home office near Chambly should offer, and where BÉAcité lets you set one up.

One point up front: the published floor plans do not label any room as an office. They show spaces that can hold one, depending on the layout you choose. Some of the finished homes, for their part, do have one.

The drive weighs heavily on the Chambly week

The 2021 Census figures speak for themselves:

43.9% of Chambly commuters spent 30 minutes or more getting to work, against 30.2% in Sainte-Julie and 33.7% in Quebec;
16.7% even spent 45 minutes or more;
70.6% of workers with a usual place of work had that job outside the Vallée-du-Richelieu regional county municipality;
87.3% of commuters travelled by car.

Moving to Sainte-Julie will not necessarily shorten those trips: toward downtown Montreal, Geoffrion Street is actually about two minutes farther than Chambly city hall, without traffic. The real time saving, if your job allows it, comes from the days you do not hit the road at all. On office days, Geoffrion Street is about 21 minutes from the Longueuil terminus and about 25 minutes from the Brossard terminus, again without traffic.

For exact travel times from your starting point, see our article on getting from Chambly to Sainte-Julie.

Working from home, measured in the middle of the pandemic

In May 2021, when the census was taken, 26.1% of Chambly workers had worked from home, compared with 23.6% in Sainte-Julie and 21.9% in Quebec. That measurement was taken in the middle of the pandemic: it does not say how many people work remotely today. It only shows that a large share of Chambly residents have already had to set up a workstation at home.

If you have been through it, you probably know that a makeshift office corner ends up spilling into family life. Hence the value of planning the space when you choose the house, rather than hunting for it once you have moved in.

Where can an office go in a BÉAcité home?

The Duo cottage's mezzanine

Available as an option, the mezzanine adds 338 sq ft to the Duo cottage and brings its living area to 2,356 sq ft. The photos of 405 Geoffrion Street show exactly that: a mezzanine set up as an office, under a high ceiling.

The basement

Every model has a basement: 858 sq ft for the Duo, 1,006 sq ft for the bungalow and 652 sq ft for the Urbain model. Depending on the finish you choose, an office can fit down there, away from the living areas.

A corner in the living area or upstairs

The home at 423 has an open office designed for working from home. In the photos of 408, an office is closed off by a glass door and lined with built-in bookshelves; at 435, you can see a bright office with an olive-green wall and, upstairs, a work nook next to the residential elevator.

The published plans present an "example of a possible layout": the representative will tell you what can be done with the model and the home you choose.

House with home office near Chambly: what makes a good workspace

natural light: BÉAcité homes have large windows in every room, a plus for long days in front of a screen;
separation: a door that closes for calls, or an open space if you would rather stay close to the family;
volume: the 9-foot ceilings on the main floor give breathing room to a workspace set up on that level;
summer comfort: central air conditioning is part of the inclusions;
storage: plan room for files, the printer and your equipment.

Think about your own situation, too: frequent video calls, two adults working remotely, kids at home after school. A house with home office near Chambly has to fit your specific circumstances, not an average.

Spending your days at home also makes you more aware of comfort: Maisons Pépin says it builds high-energy-efficiency homes where quality control is a priority, and every BÉAcité home is heated by a central gas forced-air system.

What if the office changed roles? The two-generation option

A workspace can change purpose over the years, and you may also be thinking of bringing an ageing parent closer. In Chambly, that situation remains rare: 195 multigenerational households in 2021, or 1.6% of households, compared with 1.4% in Quebec.

Maisons Pépin presents BÉAcité Duo as "a fine alternative to the intergenerational (two-generation) concept". The representative can explain what that means in practice for you.

A neighbourhood for your daytime breaks

Working from home also means living in your neighbourhood on weekdays. In Vilamo, medical services, a public market, restaurants, a pharmacy and a Caisse Desjardins are within walking distance, a promenade is reserved for pedestrians, bikes and electric mobility, and more than 15% of the neighbourhood is given over to green space. Espace Tonik, a community sugar bush, comes on top of that with a three-year free membership, according to beacite.com.

On days when you do need to get around, Sainte-Julie's local bus is free, and the garage has an outlet for charging an electric car. And to unwind after work, the Mont Saint-Bruno ski centre is about ten minutes from Geoffrion Street.

To weigh these advantages against what you would leave behind, read our article on living in Sainte-Julie or Chambly.

Conclusion

A house with home office near Chambly does not shorten the drive: it lets you make it less often. At BÉAcité, the Duo cottage's optional mezzanine, every model's basement and the offices in the move-in-ready homes offer several ways to get there. To see an open office in a real setting, book a tour of the home at 423 Geoffrion Street. The sales office at 435 is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; evenings and weekends are by appointment.

A house with home office near Chambly, for less time on the road