West Van residences showcase modern flair
Credit to Author: Barbara Gunn| Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2019 12:10:53 +0000
The West Vancouver Art Museum has held an annual tour of mid-century and modern West Coast architecture since 2006, and the five residences featured this year showcased much to impress the 200-plus participants.
Not surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be a universal favourite among the homes on the West Coast Modern Home Tour, which over the years has featured more than 50 architecturally innovative residences by some of Canada’s best-known architects.
This year, tour-goers were given a peek inside:
Hollingsworth’s Hoffar Residence was one of the oldest homes on the tour and perhaps the most quintessential West Coast design. Set on a rocky lot in Upper Caulfeild, with large roof overhangs and exquisite wood detailing, a visitor might be excused for assuming it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who famously offered Hollingsworth a job in his early career.
The house features decorative concrete and wood on both the outside and inside. Interior walls and ceiling are finished with cedar boards often placed on the diagonal with a combination of smooth and rough surfaces, resulting in a subtle, elegant pattern.
Unlike most mid-century modern houses, this house, with its off-pink refrigerator and shag carpet, remains largely unchanged from its original construction.
Hollingsworth helped pioneer West Coast modernism, and along with local peers B.C. Binning, Arthur Erickson, Barry Downs and Ron Thom, was responsible for many significant homes and buildings in Vancouver and beyond.
The Sutton Place Residence started off as a classic split-level bungalow. However, following two major renovations over a span of seven years by highly respected architect Peter Cardew, the property has been transformed from an ordinary suburban house into a refined, esthetically pleasing home.
Of interest to many was the five-foot-wide pivoting front door, which, when open, creates a most inviting entry.
The Howard Residence is a triangulated L-shape house on a triangular site, enclosing a courtyard at the foot of a granite cliff. The structure is clad in dramatic black Hardie shingles, while the interior features white oak floors, white walls and grey porcelain tiles, all offset by black window frames.
Many did not know what to expect at the Sea Ranch Residence. After all, Sea Ranch is a famous 1960s master-planned California community noted for its distinctive, simple timber-frame structures clad in wooden siding or shingles.
The house, with its extensive use of wood, stone and glass, and winding circular staircase, was widely featured in design magazines when completed in 1971. Over the years, much of the natural cedar has been stained black and large sliding glass doors have been carefully added.
While homeowners of significant architectural houses generally like to maintain their privacy, this most certainly is not the case with this residence, which has its own Facebook page. The owner has also published a book that includes all the original photos and the changes that have occurred over the years.
It was difficult for tour participants not to envy the owners of the two-level L-shaped 2005 Bonetti Residence, with its elegant swimming pool and hot tub beautifully sited within the secluded treed property. Others were impressed by the long, exquisitely detailed window that extends along the lengthy kitchen counter, offering a framed view of an exterior hillside.
In reporting on this year’s West Coast Modern Home tour, it is my hope that the event will expand over the years, just as Palm Springs’ Modernism Week has. Then it can showcase even more examples of West Vancouver’s extraordinary mid-century and modern housing designs, and also promote West Vancouver as a deserving tourism destination.
Next year’s tour is scheduled for July 11, 2020.
Michael Geller is a Vancouver architect, real estate consultant and developer. He serves on the adjunct faculty of SFU’s Centre for Sustainable Development and Resource and Environmental Management. His blog can be found at gellersworldtravel.blogspot.ca and he can be reached at geller@sfu.ca.