Townhouses For Sale in Barrhaven – Longfields, Ottawa

An early-1990s neighbourhood built tight

Longfields went up mostly in the early 1990s, during one of Barrhaven's big expansion periods. It packs more people per square kilometre than Barrhaven overall, which tells you something about the housing: a lot of rows and semis on compact lots, mixed with detached homes.

Davidson Heights, its neighbour, shares a high school with it, Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School, and the two are often thought of together. For buyers, the appeal is a finished neighbourhood with established parks and schools, closer to the inner end of Barrhaven than the newer communities to the south.

The second-owner effect on 1990s rows

Most Longfields rows are on their second or third owner, and many have had at least one round of renovation. That makes condition, not floor plan, the main thing separating listings.

• Ask what was done and when. A kitchen from 2010 and a kitchen from last year are both 'updated' in a listing.
• Ask about permits for finished basements, removed walls and added bathrooms.
• Look at the shell. Fresh paint inside doesn't help if the roof, windows or furnace are still original.
• Compare against an unrenovated twin. With repeated floor plans, there's often a nearby listing in original condition that shows what the updates are really worth.

A few items are specific to rows of this age. Some Ontario homes from the period used polybutylene (Poly-B) water lines, which insurers often ask about, so have the inspector look at any exposed supply piping. Shared roofs are another: on a freehold row, each owner re-shingles their own section, so ask whether the neighbours have replaced theirs and how the seams were handled. Finally, look at the firewall between units in the attic and the wall shared with the garage, which earlier owners sometimes cut through for wiring or storage.

Longfields station, Strandherd and the VIA stop

Longfields station on the transitway opened around 2011, and Strandherd station, with roughly 330 park-and-ride spaces, opened in 2007. Buses carry most downtown commuters; rail into Barrhaven isn't expected until after 2031.

One less common perk: Fallowfield station, a VIA Rail stop at Fallowfield Road and Woodroffe Avenue, reopened for passenger service in 2002, which is handy for anyone who travels to Toronto or Montréal by train.

Shopping and sports a short drive away

Chapman Mills Marketplace at Strandherd and Greenbank, with its cinema and big-box stores, is Barrhaven's main commercial district. The Walter Baker Sports Centre and, farther south, the Minto Recreation Complex cover arenas, pools and programs. Highway 416 at the western edge of Barrhaven links to the Queensway.

Compared with Half Moon Bay, Longfields trades new construction for a shorter trip north and a neighbourhood that's done growing.

Longfields for first-time buyers and small investors

For first-time buyers, Longfields is one of the more practical places in Barrhaven to land a freehold row: no monthly fee on most streets, a yard, a transitway station and schools that already exist rather than ones promised in a future phase.

For investors, the same features make a unit easy to describe to tenants. If you're thinking about a basement suite, Ontario rules now allow additional residential units on most urban lots with a detached, semi or row house, but the city's zoning, the building code and fire separation requirements still apply. Get those details confirmed before you count on the income.