In the world of interior design, trends and influences are constantly changing. Colours have a few years in the spotlight before fading from view, kitchen and bathroom fixtures move through finishes from metal tones to black and back again and the cool tones of once ubiquitous, grey-toned flooring are making way for warmer looking options. But through all these shifts there are some basic rules that guide interior design — here three interior designers share their insights on rules that can — and can’t — be broken.

Danielle Keoghan had rules in mind when she named her Victoria, B.C.-based interior design business, Maverick Designs .

“I’ve never been interested in spaces that are led by trends. I want to design homes that feel like the people who live in them. Rules in design aren’t wrong — the key is to understand what problem they were created to solve. Maverick is a reminder to ask which ones actually apply,” she says.

Keoghan’s first rule is good planning come before shopping.

“It sounds obvious: Get the right plan, understand proportions, flow and function. After that everything is easy and enjoyable. If you skip that step and buy a sectional that is too big, faces the wrong direction and blocks traffic, then you’re asking (an interior designer) to remediate a problem,” she says, adding by that time the options are usually very limited.

Madeleine Sloback, founder and creative director at Madeleine Design Group in Surrey, B.C. says a rule that should never be broken is the often-referenced function before form.

“Before choosing finishes, furniture or decor a space needs to support how you actually live. The best interiors are designed around movement, routines, storage needs, conversation areas and daily habits. A beautiful room that doesn’t function well will never feel right long term,” she says.

Samantha Muller, principal and interior designer at South Surrey, B.C.-based Kleen Design agrees function always comes first. When she is designing interiors for developments such as townhomes and condos, she prioritizes storage and pays attention to dedicated zones that reflect how people live and that maintain traffic flow.

“You don’t want to compromise your traffic flow for esthetics,” she advises.

In some apartments there isn’t space for a full dining room so look for dining solutions that are practical.

“Sometimes this means forgoing a full dining table in smaller apartments in favour of counter stools at the kitchen island or a flexible, fold-out table that can be used when needed then folded away (to maintain traffic flow),” says Muller.

In kitchens space planning is essential to ensure functionality. While there are many aspects to consider in kitchen layouts from the work triangle to allowing space for appliance doors to open, one of the first considerations is the distance between perimeter cabinets and a kitchen island.

Muller says rules often need to bend in smaller spaces.

“In townhomes sometimes that distance is as short as 36 inches. In a larger home I prefer 40 inches. Sometimes you just have to accept that a space can’t accommodate an island, and you have to take it out and redraw the plans,” she says.

Muller’s superpower is an instinctive understanding of scale, one of the most important rules in the playbook.

“As a visual thinker one of my strongest points is scale,” she says. “Understand your furniture sizes, how much space you need to walk around the space. Not using oversized furniture if your space isn’t large — or has high ceilings — so it doesn’t overwhelm the space,” she says pointing out that undersized furniture can make a room feel unfinished.

Muller says balance is inseparable from scale and can be achieved through cohesive furniture groupings and intentionally layered textures, such as mixing velvets and cottons and varying pillow textures to create harmony.

For art, she advocates “less is more,” recommending selective statement pieces, visual pauses on some walls and simple combinations like one artwork and one mirror in a room, noting that more than half of her own art remains un-hung after a recent move.

“You don’t have to hang every piece you own, says Muller.

For Keoghan lighting is a non-negotiable design priority: layered, dimmable, well-placed lighting can make even rule-breaking interiors feel right, whereas rooms with only recessed overhead lights on one switch feel uncomfortable, despite good furnishings, she says.

Sloback agrees and says lighting should come from multiple sources.

“Relying on one overhead light or one type of light source flattens a room. The most inviting spaces layer ambient, task and accent lighting. Combine ceiling fixtures, lamps, sconces, under-cabinet lighting and natural light to create warmth, depth and flexibility throughout the day,” she says.

A rule that is often broken is making everything match, says Sloback.

“Perfectly matched interiors can make a space feel overly staged. Mixing materials, eras, textures and finishes often creates a more layered, collected and personal feel, as long as a sense of continuity ties everything together, such as flooring materials, hardware finishes and trim,” she adds

One of the rules Keoghan breaks is the idea that every room needs a focal point or feature wall.

“I prefer balanced spaces that draw you in quietly rather than relying on a single overperforming element,” she says.

She also disputes the rule that all furniture legs must sit on an area rug, arguing that front legs only layouts often work better, with rug sizing driven by proportion and the need to anchor groupings while allowing floor to show. Common mistakes include buying readily available but too small sizes like a five-by-seven-foot instead of larger, more appropriate rugs.

Keoghan also has opinions on the often-quoted guidance that says dark colours make a room feel smaller.

“That’s true, until it’s not,” she says.

“Colour washing (or colour drenching) is a great strategy for small or awkward rooms,” she says.

Painting walls, trim, doors and ceilings the same colour and introducing subtle variation through the finish of the paint can visually expand spaces, soften edges and create immersive atmospheres, says Keoghan.

She recently used this technique in a small den in a condo.

“We colour washed it in charcoal. We had a lacquer finish for the built-in millwork, an eggshell finish on the walls and the trim in a satin finish. So there was subtle variation between the colours just from a finish standpoint,” she says, adding that a cream area rug and seating in an off-white shade created a “gorgeous” space that felt larger.

It seems the old adage that rules are made to be broken applies when bending or adjusting them is necessary to adapt to specific situations. Maybe Pablo Picasso said it best: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”

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Weekly roundup of three properties that recently sold in Metro Vancouver.

1028 Cambie St., Vancouver

Type: Two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse

Size: 1,315 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,208,000

Listed for: $1,388,800

Sold for: $1,240,000

Sold on: May 8

Days on market in this listing: 94

Listing agent: Karim Virani at Virani Real Estate Advisors

Buyers agent: Cassandra Ariken PREC at Royal LePage Elite West

The big sell: This two-bedroom, three-level townhome forms part of Concord Pacific’s Marina Pointe development that comprises condominiums and townhouses with shared amenities including an indoor swimming pool, a sauna/steam room, a fitness centre, squash court, and 24-hour concierge services. It has a private entry off Cambie Street and comes extensively renovated with engineered hardwood floors throughout, air conditioning, a feature stone wall with an inset electric fireplace, and a completely redesigned kitchen with premium finishings, quartz countertops, and high-end appliances. The primary reception rooms are on the main level, with both bedrooms upstairs alongside a home office. An added convenience is a private two-car garage with direct access into the home, as well as a large storage space. The home’s monthly maintenance fee is $1,141.18, and the strata permits pets and rentals — both with restrictions.

2 — 3393 Victoria Dr., Vancouver

Type: Three-bedroom, two-bathroom half duplex

Size: 983 square feet

B.C. Assessment: N/A

Listed for: $999,000

Sold for: $999,000

Sold on: April 12

Days on market in this listing: Six

Listing agent: Jessica Chen PREC at Oakwyn Realty

Buyers agent: Ren Yoshima at Oakwyn Realty

The big sell: The boutique complex of Mira at Trout Lake has recently been completed with four duplex homes that offer two- or three-level layouts, private patios, and a smooth indoor/outdoor flow through expansive sliding doors. This particular home sold for the full price in six days. It is a two-storey west-facing half duplex with herringbone wood floors on the main level, wide-plank oak floors upstairs, fluted limestone feature walls, overheight ceilings, arched passageways, and custom millwork. The kitchen shines with integrated Smeg appliances including a gas cooker, a pot filler, deep Blanco sinks, and quartz surfaces. The bathrooms have been elegantly finished with floating vanities, large format tiles, and a frameless glass shower. There is air conditioning for summertime comfort, insuite ventilation, acoustic windows, built-in speakers, a security system, and the 2-5-10 new home warranty.

12680 Ansell St., Maple Ridge

Type: Four-bedroom, four-bathroom detached

Size: 3,580 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,427,000

Listed for: $2,350,000

Sold for: $2,205,000

Sold on: March 30

Days on market in this listing: One

Listing agent: Sonja Jones at ReMax Lifestyles Realty

Buyers agent: Shannon Drummond PREC at Royal LePage Elite West

The big sell: This architecturally-designed four-level home was built in a West Coast contemporary style with natural elements that reflect the beauty of the surrounding environment with rock accents, wood-clad vaulted ceilings, exposed beams, a spiral staircase, wood-surround windows, and open living spaces that allow for abundant natural light while highlighting the mountain, forest and ravine views. The home was constructed in 1976 within Maple Ridge’s Academy Park and sits on two acres of — according to the listing agent — potentially subdividable forested land complete with old-growth cedar and fir trees. It was renovated in 2020 and displays a modern kitchen with white gloss cabinets and a tiled backsplash, four stylish bathrooms, and laundry on all levels. The property was on the market for just a day before being snapped up.

These transactions were compiled by Nicola Way of BestHomesBC.com.

Realtors — send your recent sales to nicola@besthomesbc.com

Want more expert mortgage info? Robert McLister shares Canada’s best national insured and uninsured mortgage rates, updated daily.Related

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A manicured lawn is no longer the default dream.

Across Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, a quiet shift is taking place in backyards, side gardens and outdoor areas. Homeowners want beauty, comfort and privacy, but are increasingly asking for spaces that feel less controlled and more alive, says landscape architect Andrew van Egmond, founder of Designing Landscape.

The wild is being embraced more and more, he says:

“It’s a movement that is present in landscape design and landscape architecture globally.”

Originally from the Netherlands and now based in British Columbia, van Egmond works on projects across the province, from Ucluelet and Whistler to Quadra Island and Summerland. His work is subtle, minimal and deeply site-specific, shaped by local materials, native planting and the surrounding landscape.

This fall, he will bring that thinking to IDS Vancouver with a feature installation exploring the relationship between design and the dynamic forces of nature. The project will use layered planting, biodiversity-focused design and circular and upcycled materials to create an immersive landscape that changes over time.

Embracing the wild

There is a growing awareness that we’ve moved away from nature too much, and need to reconnect, and he’s seeing this in West Coast garden design, says van Egmond.

He points to designers such as Dave Demers and Botanica Design, as well as the Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf, whose work includes Millennium Park in Chicago and the High Line in New York, as helping make looser, more naturalistic planting feel accepted by a wider public.

The next step is more radical and more local, says van Egmond.

“I think now it’s time to go one step further and let the spontaneity of a real native planting system back into our spaces close to where we live, our homes,” he says.

This means less yearly mulching, less heavy irrigation and less reliance on exotic plants that can become invasive.

“I think we are moving to a yard that is more in tune with nature, supporting the local ecosystem and accepting the flux of the seasons and nature that we so much value in B.C.”

A situated garden

In B.C., the mountains, forests, shorelines and native plant communities are so prominent, says van Egmond.

“We are fortunate to live in such an amazing part of the world, where nature is abundant, and what we all value and enjoy is something we want to have closer to home.”

For homeowners, the takeaway is practical. Look first at what is already around you. The trees beyond the fence, the borrowed view, the slope of the site, the light, the native plants that thrive nearby.

Subtle luxury

If you want to make an outdoor space feel elevated without being overdesigned, van Egmond suggests going big, matched with restraint.

“Don’t do too much, but what you do, do it well,” he says.

The trick is to create interest without clutter. He recommends large gestures rather than decoration, and a simple, restrained material palette. The planting can be rich, layered and wild, but the hardscaping should remain calm and well-balanced.

“I believe that working with real materials does benefit the overall feel of elegance and luxuriousness. So no plastics that pretend to be wood, no concrete elements that pretend to be natural stone, no plastic planters, etc.”

A simple stone path, a generous timber bench, a restrained terrace or a single strong planting move can carry more weight than a collection of small decorative features.

Green sanctuary

“Green, green and green,” he says. “If you surround yourself with an abundance of planting, you will create your own oasis.”

Planting softens the visual pressure of cars, asphalt and nearby buildings. It brings birds and insects closer to home. It buffers city noise. Add water, especially moving water, and the garden can begin to mask the sounds of the surrounding neighbourhood.

“The green comes with maintenance, and therefore many people build hard surfaces, fences and lots of mulching, but that does not create this feeling of well-being and sanctuary.”

Where to spend

For the biggest impact, van Egmond suggests avoiding expensive features that drain money, energy and maintenance unless they will truly be used.

“Not in a pool if you don’t use it regularly. It drains energy, uses lots of water, and requires lots of maintenance. Same for a Jacuzzi,” he says.

Instead, he advises investing in real, locally sourced materials, such as local wood and natural stone from nearby quarries. It may cost more than imported alternatives, but it gives the space a stronger connection to place, supports local business, and they weather well.

Big gestures also matter. A generous planting move, a large water feature or a substantial grouping of planters (think 12) can have more presence than scattered decorative pieces.

“Mimic the scale of nature,” he says.

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Alex Chuaqui and Fia Cooper had been popping over to their Pender Harbour cottage from Vancouver most weekends since their son was born 12 years ago. In 2017, they decided to decamp to the Sunshine Coast for good. So they sold their Vancouver property and bought an older home, built in 1966, on Mahan Road in Gibsons with stunning views of the Salish Sea and Pasley Islands.

It needed “a ton of work,” says listing agent Sue Scott, of Engel & Völkers Vancouver. “But they were up for it.”

They certainly were. Chuaqui and Cooper regularly custom design, build and revamp properties, including heritage buildings in Gastown. They dug in and, over the course of three years, undertook a full renovation of the 60-year-old Mahan Road home .

“The exterior was also extensively renovated, including a new metal and torch-on roof, all-new cedar shake siding, refinished decking and completely redesigned landscaping,” says Cooper. “A fully fenced, pet-friendly perimeter provides privacy and security, along with a newly poured concrete driveway.”

Nearly 1,500 square feet of deck and patio space — a deck off every principal area, says Scott — includes one that’s shaded by a huge 50-year-old maple tree that Scott says is so calming to sit under and gaze at the views.

As Chuaqui and Cooper were gazing at those views one day, they contemplated the empty lot in front of them on Gower Point Road and realized someone could come along and build a bigger house and block their stunning sea views. So they bought the lot and set about building another, bigger house, also minimally landscaped in favour of extensive decking to take in the views. An engineered retaining wall with a corrugated metal fence above separates the two properties. Both homes are for sale together or individually.

What’s inside Mahan

Tucked away at the end of a quiet road, the post-and-beam rancher on Mahan Road features four bedrooms and four bathrooms over 2,421 square feet.

The open concept reclaimed wood flooring connects a spacious living area with a green-wrapped dining nook and kitchen with butcher block maple countertops, Whirlpool gas stove, LG fridge and washer and dryer, and a Bosch dishwasher. Plenty of windows and skylights catch the natural light, including in the primary bedroom. “It faces the Pasley Islands, so you wake up to morning light and this incredible ocean view,” says Scott. “I’m not sure I’d get out of bed if I woke to that every day.”

Cooper says the house originally featured a galley kitchen separated from the main living area by a brick fireplace. “The fireplace was removed, the kitchen was relocated, and a cosy dining nook was created in the original kitchen space, resulting in a bright, open-concept layout with significantly improved flow.”

Other major upgrades, she says, include all-new electrical, plumbing, and heating systems, gas fireplace, new windows and doors, new drywall throughout, and upgraded insulation. Every finish in the home was updated, including the bathrooms, laundry area, and flooring. Cabinetry is by Delta’s Hi-Design Custom Cabinetry Ltd. The bathroom countertops are made from reclaimed fir salvaged from Vancouver’s historic Pantages Theatre.

“We love wood for its warmth, texture, and natural character,” says Cooper. “It felt like the right material for the home and suited its character.”

A detached studio with a three-piece bathroom and roughed-in kitchenette could be used as a studio, guest suite, office or rental (on approval of applicable zoning and permitting).

What’s inside Gower

The Gower Point Road home which, Scott says, is brand new and never been lived in, comprises four bedrooms and four bathrooms over 3,017 square feet of white oak flooring. The 13-foot ceilings and expansive windows capture the natural light and ocean views. The open-concept living area features a Venetian plaster fireplace and shadow moulding throughout “which is expensive and kind of a pain to do but it’s a really gorgeous effect,” says Scott.

The kitchen features all Bosch appliances, German-made faucet by GROHE, workstation sink by KOLA, cabinets by Hi-Design Custom Cabinetry Ltd., and oversized sliders that open onto a huge sundeck. The dining chandelier is by Herman Miller and all of the recessed lighting is by DALS with adjustable colour temperature. Countertops are quartz by Hari Stones.

The primary suite features a walk-in closet and a spa-inspired bathroom with a steam shower by Relax-A-Mist, marble countertops, faucets by Riobel, vanity sink top by ICO, wall-hung toilets by AXA, chandelier by Kai, and a Scarlet V-Groove stand-alone tub by Bain Signature with a little window to soak in the view while you’re soaking in the tub.

“This house was built for the view — every room has a view, every bedroom has access to the outside,” says Scott.

Although the home is mostly on one level, there is a self-contained garden-level suite below the main living space with a separate entrance, a three-piece bathroom, and rough-ins to add a full kitchen for guests, extended family, studio or rental, with proper permitting.

“I’ve shown it to a family whose kids say they would like that space to hang out in,” says Scott. “An (interested) musician from L.A. wanted a separate studio space for instruments. It could even work as a home office. Your clients could park right outside and walk in, since it’s separate from your living space.”

A two-car garage with tall ceilings, lots of room for shelving or a standup freezer and sink is, says Scott, “pristine”.

In the neighbourhood

Both properties are about a 12-minute drive from the Langdale ferry terminal. Shops, restaurants and a marina are nearby in “cute and charming” Lower Gibsons, says Scott.

“And upper Gibsons, three minutes away, has a strip mall, banking, stores and high school that kids ride their bikes to.”

She says you can walk to Secret Beach in five minutes along a trail at the bottom of Mahan across Gower Point. Several other beaches are a short drive away in either direction.

And, for lunch with a taste of Hollywood North history, Molly’s Reach restaurant in Lower Gibsons, inside a building celebrating a century of existence, was the backdrop for the long-running iconic Canadian TV series The Beachcombers.

Location:127 Mahan Road, Gibsons

Listed for: $1,668,000

Year built: 1966

Type: Four bedrooms, four bathrooms

Size: 2,421 square feet

Realtor: Listed by Sue Scott, PREC, and Katie Burkard, PREC, Engel & Völkers Vancouver

Location:980 Gower Point Road, Gibsons

Listed for: $1,798,000

Year built: 2025

Type: Four bedrooms, four bathrooms

Size: 3,017 square feet

Realtor: Listed by Sue Scott, PREC, and Katie Burkard, PREC, Engel & Völkers Vancouver

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Weekly roundup of three properties that recently sold in Metro Vancouver.

1232 Wellington Dr., North Vancouver

Type: Seven-bedroom, six-bathroom detached

Size: 3,915 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $2,099,000

Listed for: $3,598,000

Sold for: $3,375,000

Sold on: March 13

Days on market in this listing: 15

Listing agent: Brooke Clarke at Stilhavn Real Estate Services

Buyers agent: Rod Bahari PREC at Sutton Group — West Coast Realty

The big sell: This brand new Lynn Valley home was constructed by Page West Developments and Noort Homes and features close to 4,000 square feet of luxury living that encompasses seven bedrooms and six bathrooms. With an eye on entertaining and family life, the thoughtfully-designed floorplan features a stylish great room on the main level that offers a chef-inspired kitchen with oversized island and a walk-in pantry, a dining area and living room, and sliding glass doors that provide a seamless flow onto a covered patio and fully-fenced backyard. There are four bedrooms upstairs including the primary bedroom suite equipped with a walk-in closet and sumptuous ensuite bathroom with a sculptured bathtub and walk-in shower. The lower level has a bright, two-bedroom suite, plus an additional bedroom and a large recreation room that could be used as a home cinema, gym, or playroom.

34 — 8400 Ashleigh McIvor Dr., Whistler

Type: Three-bedroom, four-bathroom townhouse

Size: 2,250 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $3,227,000

Listed for: $2,995,000

Sold for: $2,875,000

Sold on: May 4

Days on market in this listing: 16

Listing agent: Nick Swinburne PREC at Angell Hasman & Associates Realty

Buyers agent: Robert Palm PREC at Rennie & Associates Realty

The big sell: The townhouse community of Red Sky was built in 2016 in Whistler’s Rainbow subdivision overlooking Green Lake and with panoramic mountain vistas. The 41 units are designed over three levels and feature a contemporary esthetic both inside and out with wood detailing on the exterior and chic interiors. This particular home has a south-facing exposure and a flexible layout. There are three ensuited bedrooms on the top floor, generous sized reception rooms including a 15-foot-long family room that could be a fourth bedroom for guests, and a host of modern conveniences such as Control4 smart home automation, heated floors, and electric blinds. An entertainment-sized deck and a private hot tub provide relaxation after a day on the slopes, plus owners have full access to the Baxter Creek Residents’ Club with a saltwater swimming pool and fire pit. This home comes with an integrated single garage and driveway parking, and a monthly maintenance fee of $776.75.

1503 — 1323 Homer St., Vancouver

Type: Two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment

Size: 1,103 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,098,000

Listed for: $1,190,000

Sold for: $1,125,000

Sold on: April 15

Days on market in this listing: 158

Listing agent: Taryn McKay and Brian Fedyshen at Royal LePage Elite West

Buyers agent: Holly Calderwood PREC at Royal LePage Sussex

The big sell: One of the highlights of this two-bedroom corner-unit home is that it was available fully furnished as well as having been professionally decorated, allowing for a buyer to just move on in. It forms part of Pacific Point II, a 28-storey tower that was built by Bosa in 1993 and completely renovated in 2013 with rainscreening and updated windows completed in 2022. It offers a range of amenities that include full-time concierge services, an indoor swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, event room and gym. Inside this condo is an open-concept floorplan with a wall of windows that emphasize the views capturing the city, Burrard Inlet and David Lam Park. There are premium appliances and cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms, laminate floors, a dining area off the kitchen surrounded by windows, and an ensuited primary bedroom. The home comes with parking, a storage locker, and a monthly maintenance fee of $692.37.

These transactions were compiled by Nicola Way of BestHomesBC.com.

Realtors — send your recent sales to nicola@besthomesbc.com

Want more expert mortgage info? Robert McLister shares Canada’s best national insured and uninsured mortgage rates, updated daily

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For decades, prefabricated housing has promised to make building a home faster, simpler and less wasteful. But the term prefab still conjures up a feeling of compromise. Repetitive designs, lightweight construction and houses chosen primarily for cost-savings and speed over architecture.

It’s these assumptions the founders of Vancouver company Commonplace want to do away with. Their aim is not to produce a better budget prefab, but a precision-manufactured home that competes with high-end custom architecture.

High design, premium finishes and a fully finished, turnkey product is the goal. Much of the work is completed before the components reach the property, reducing construction time and the number of trades required on-site.

Commonplace was founded by Edmund Lee, Rich Frontain and architect Walker McKinley, whose backgrounds span manufacturing, business, commercial interiors, architecture and design.

Seven years in the making

Commonplace came about from a conversation about whether homes could be built differently, says Lee:

“The initial thought to disrupt how homes were built using non-conventional materials started over a casual lunch seven years ago.”

What followed was a lengthy development process focused not only on how a house could be manufactured, but on how that process could produce a genuinely luxurious home.

Rather than designing a standard box that can be repeated with minor variations, Commonplace has centred its concept on a courtyard. The courtyard connects indoor and outdoor spaces, brings natural light deeper into the home and allows the rooms to feel more expansive.

“The homes are designed around the ethos of Essential Living, where the rooms are generous for comfortable living without excessive spaces,” says Lee.

The courtyard is the connection between the exterior and interior spaces, which makes the home feel larger than its square footage, and the finishes combine to provide a warm and inviting ambience, he says.

The result is intended to provide the comfort, proportions and material quality of a custom-designed home without unnecessary rooms or wasted circulation space.

Obvious luxury

Prefabrication does not have to mean sacrificing architecture, materials or finish, says Lee.

They’ve designed their prefabs to be compared with bespoke luxury houses rather than low-cost modular buildings. Some features include carefully proportioned layouts, large courtyards, Italian-made kitchens, integrated storage and interiors influenced by modernist, Japanese and Scandinavian design.

“From the design itself to the quality of windows and finishes to how they’re joining the walls, we didn’t want it to feel like a prefab,” says McKinley.

The homes range from compact 765-square-foot bungalows to 2,760-square-foot family residences. The idea is not to make homes small for the sake of economy. Instead, each room is intended to be useful, comfortable and well proportioned, without duplicated living areas, excessive spare rooms or inefficient circulation space.

Partition walls can double as storage, while the kitchens are deliberately generous and designed to serve as social gathering spaces.

The courtyard remains the defining feature, creating views of the outdoors from throughout the home and making the interior feel larger than its measured floor area.

Concrete over conventional framing

Commonplace uses large-format lightweight concrete panels rather than relying on the timber framing, drywall, plastic membranes and loose insulation found in many conventional North American homes.

“We use a large-format lightweight concrete panel approach, which means our homes are concrete, durable, fire resistant, mould and pest-resistant, while allowing us to create architecturally curated designs centred on the courtyard,” says Lee.

The homes are manufactured in Western Canada, with production in Squamish and Calgary. Interiors use finished MDF panels, millwork cabinetry and Cosentino solid surfaces.

Lee says the company does not use drywall, wooden studs, plastic weatherproofing or loose insulation. Their choice of materials is intended to provide the durability expected of a high-end home while allowing more of the building to be completed under controlled manufacturing conditions.

“Commonplace is a precision-manufactured home assembled on site to eliminate waste, compress linear schedules and minimise the number of trades on site,” says Lee.

The company says the panels are fabricated in a factory with zero-waste certification and close to 100 per cent waste diversion from landfill. During the construction of their recently completed Vancouver show home, the Commonplace team says their optimized building process resulted in not a single waste bin of wastage.

How much do these cost?

The target price is between $500 and $600 per square foot, says Lee.

They estimate the complete site preparation and building process to take approximately three to four months and once the site is ready, assembly of the house itself is expected to take between 30 and 45 days.

Some prefabricated home prices cover only the manufactured structure, leaving owners to arrange foundations, utility connections, interior finishes and other site work separately, says Lee:

“Our homes are 100 per cent complete, a full turnkey solution that is move-in ready at possession,” he says.

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Perhaps no residential architectural style has undergone a greater shift in public perception over the past century than West Coast Modernism.

“There’s definitely been a pendulum shift,” says Trent Rodney. “It’s growing every single year, beyond my wildest imagination. Ten years ago, people made fun of us. They’d say, ‘Those guys are selling shacks in the woods.’”

Today, interest in the homes is picking up, especially among what Rodney calls “the creative class.”

“The people acquiring a Hollingsworth, an Erickson, or homes by architects working today, they don’t want your cookie-cutter mansion. They can easily buy those. They want something connected to nature and connected to the cultural fabric of the city.”

Pioneered by Fred Hollingsworth and Arthur Erickson along with Ron Thom , Barry Downs and Ned Pratt, what we now call West Coast Modern architecture emerged in the 1940s. Characterized by wood, glass and a strong connection to the landscape, it became one of British Columbia’s defining architectural movements.

It flourished over the next three decades but fell out of fashion as tastes changed toward larger postmodern and neo-traditional homes and rising land values made many older modernist houses vulnerable to redevelopment. During the movement’s fallow years in the 1980s and 1990s, Peter Cardew continued to champion its principles of simplicity, craftsmanship and connection to place. Today, architects such as Patkau Architects , BattersbyHowat Architects , McLeod Bovell Modern Houses , Frits de Vries, D’Arcy Jones Architects, and Measured Architecture are carrying the tradition forward while embracing the same nature-first philosophy.

“Why do people move to Vancouver?” Rodney says. “Ask anyone and one of the first things they say is nature. And the best way to enjoy our natural environment is the West Coast Modern home.”

Rodney’s own interest in the movement began in the 2010s while he was working in luxury real estate. To preserve and sell the homes he had come to admire, he co-founded West Coast Modern.

His first project was Fred Hollingsworth’s own house. Working alongside Hollingsworth’s son Russell, he helped save it from demolition.

“It was incredibly at risk, definitely demo-bait. Most of the time it would have been torn down.”

Over the past decade, his company has “represented hundreds of West Coast Modern homes without any sales resulting in a demolition.”

That doesn’t mean the battle is over, however. Rodney estimates that as many as 50 per cent of architecturally significant West Coast Modern homes sold through the conventional real estate market are eventually demolished.

“We’re seeing demolitions every month.”

West Coast Modern homes can be found all over the province, but the highest concentration is on the North Shore.

“They’re hidden in the bush, hidden in the forest, hidden on rock outcroppings and hillsides. In Palm Springs you can see them everywhere. Here, the approach was to be discreet from the street, so awareness of them has been lost.”

A lot of the West Coast Modern homes in Vancouver proper were lost to redevelopment in the ’90s.

“These were small houses built around a garden. The garden was designed first and then the house. You bring your modern homebuyer into that, and they don’t even step into the garden.”

There are also many examples on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

“There were architects who retreated out there, like Hank Schubart on Salt Spring. He was kind of the resident architect, creating some of the most innovative houses of wood and glass connected to nature.”

Evidence of the style’s growing popularity can be seen in the increasing international attention being paid to it and, closer to home, in the success of West Coast Modern Week (July 7 to 12).

Rodney, who sits on the event’s organizing committee, notes that what began as a simple home tour has evolved into a weeklong celebration featuring speakers, cocktail events, walking tours and film screenings.

“There’s a whole movement of people returning to those natural principles and that nostalgia. I love it.”

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There’s such a thing as too much togetherness. So when architects Tillie Kwan and Bettina Balcaen designed a family retreat on Savary Island, they made room for everyone to gather — and spaces to slip away, too.

The property sits on the north side of Savary, a 7.5-km-long crescent of forest and white sand beaches off the coast of Powell River. The owners had been coming to the island for a decade but had outgrown their longtime family cabin.

“Now that the kids are adults, they wanted those kids to come back, maybe with potential partners, maybe with grandkids, to continue that tradition of providing a vacation place, but one that’s bigger and can be more multi-generational,” says Balcaen.

Rather than one large dwelling, Kwan and Balcaen — partners in Vancouver’s Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design — created a series of three separate cabins, connected by a wraparound deck.

The central cabin houses a primary suite and the main social spaces, including a dining room and kitchen, while a “family cabin” harbours four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchenette with an eating nook and a living area. A third cabin adds a guest bedroom with its own bathroom, plus a wood-fired sauna and a flex space that can be used as a den, gym or remote office.

“[The layout] had to be flexible enough that it could accommodate a smaller or larger gathering. It also had to have enough separation that people could get away and do their own thing, and not be in each other’s space all the time,” says Balcaen.

The remote location also informed design. Accessible only by boat, the property relies on solar power, a septic system and propane-fired stove. Rainwater harvested from the rooflines irrigates a vegetable garden.

“We had to design [each] building so that it was architecturally interesting, but at the same time not too challenging to build,” says Kwan.

They started with a densely forested site, orienting the structures to capture ocean views to the north — looking out over the Strait of Georgia, Desolation Sound and Hernando Island. But this came with an indoor trade-off: limited natural light. So, Kwan and Balcaen added backward-facing dormers. “In addition to the big areas of glazing, we have these aperture-like clerestory windows that bring in light from above,” says Kwan.

The forest found its way into the buildings, too. After a previous contractor cut down more trees on the site than the design team intended, they worked with Upward Construction — the eventual builder — to create an on-site mill, producing exterior siding from downed cedars. (They’ve since planted new trees to fill in lost canopy, along with native plant species such as salal, deer fern and kinnikinnick.)

Knowing the site-milled boards would have more natural irregularities than traditionally manufactured ones, they decided on a deep charcoal stain for the exteriors. But it felt right, too: “We really wanted the cabins to be almost like shadows in the forest, so that they look like they just slipped in and very lightly settled there,” says Kwan.

From here, the design opens outward. The deck ties the exterior spaces together, with zones for cooking, dining and lounging. A sunken wood-fired hot tub sits alongside a patch of garden, next to an outdoor shower. “We made some subtle moves to make [the deck] not just this one big object,” says Kwan.

At one end, an outdoor kitchen with a barbecue and pizza oven extends the living space into the landscape. Opposite the outdoor dining area, two walls of glass meet at a corner and slide completely away, dissolving the separation between the dining room and deck.

Inside, whitewashed hemlock wraps walls and vaulted ceilings. The feel is recognizably cabin-like without leaning rustic — especially balanced by durable concrete flooring and porcelain tile wall accents. Kwan and Balcaen worked with interior designer Tina Wei to make the indoor spaces feel inseparable from the architecture.

“For us, it’s not a clear delineation between the architecture and the interiors, in that we always start by really trying to understand how people will use the space,” says Kwan.

In the main cabin, a two-sided wood-burning fireplace on a concrete plinth divides the living room from the dining area without blocking visual flow. A 12-foot-long quartzite-topped kitchen island does double duty as prep space and gathering spot, with seating for five, while a custom round dining table by Vancouver furniture maker Lock & Mortise pairs with upholstered chairs and curved loungers (both by Minotti). And because groceries are scarce this far off-grid, a deep pantry next to the kitchen keeps the bulk of hauled-in provisions tucked out of sight.

Bathrooms remix the material palette of concrete, wood and porcelain tile. The powder room centres on a custom cast-concrete sink, designed by Kwan and Balcaen and produced by Vancouver Island-based fabricator Nimble Systems. “We had this idea of something that was very robust, but still very sculptural,” says Kwan.

Like the outdoor living area, the cabins carve out private zones away from communal spaces — like window-seat reading nooks in the family and main cabins. “You can retreat from, let’s say, the living room, and read a book, or just hang out and have a cup of tea, with a view to the ocean or the forest where you feel sort of suspended,” says Balcaen.

This was always the goal: space enough to gather — to cook together, play cards, trade stories in the hot tub. But also to disappear for a while.

Architecture:Studio Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design

Interior Design: Studio Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design in collaboration with Tina Wei Design

Structural Design: Nadalini Engineering

Construction:Upward Construction

Landscape Design: Landscape Landscape

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Weekly roundup of three properties that recently sold in Metro Vancouver.

4259 West River Rd., Ladner

Type: Five-bedroom, five-bathroom detached

Size: 4,956 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $2,043,000

Listed for: $3,248,000

Sold for: $2,980,000

Sold on: March 6

Days on market in this listing: 14

Listing agent: Aileen Noguer PREC at ReMax Westcoast

Buyers agent: Jackie Lauder at Sutton Group Seafair Realty

The big sell: This waterfront Ladner property not only shines on the inside with sophisticated living but revels in year-round sunrise-to-sunset views with panoramic water vistas. The two-year-old house features three levels punctuated by high-end finishing with air conditioning, an elevator, HighQ windows, waterfall countertops, contemporary pendant lighting, a spice kitchen, premium Miele appliances, a floating staircase with glass balustrades, and multiple decks from which to enjoy the waterscapes. There are two bedrooms on the main floor and three upstairs (all five bedrooms are ensuited) including the primary bedroom that counts an oversized linear fireplace, an 11-foot walk-in closet, and an opulent private bathroom as some of its highlights. Additional cherries on the cake include a rooftop deck and a private dock with a 60-foot boat capacity.

123 — 12040 Plaza St., Maple Ridge

Type: Three-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse

Size: 1,444 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $724,000

Listed for: $699,000

Sold for: $680,000

Sold on: April 13

Days on market in this listing: 39

Listing agent: Shannon Drummond PREC at Royal LePage Elite West

Buyers agent: John Kenney PREC at Royal LePage Elite West

The big sell: ERA represents a master-planned community of recently-built homes that spans several city blocks with shops, dining, and transit options on hand including the West Coast Express. Amenities include a party room, communal kitchen, play area, gym, rooftop garden and a social lounge. This particular home is a three-storey end-unit townhouse that displays premium finishes throughout with porcelain tiles, black plumbing fixtures, and soaker tubs in the bathrooms, high-end appliances including a gas stove in the kitchen, hardwood floors and oversized windows. There are two bedrooms served by a family bathroom upstairs, while the top floor is reserved for the primary bedroom that boasts its own private deck. Two side-by-side underground parking stalls complete with an electric vehicle charger, a storage locker, and a monthly maintenance fee of $569.49 come with the property.

3161 West 6th Ave., Vancouver

Type: Eight-bedroom, three-bathroom detached

Size: 3,205 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $2,444,000

Listed for: $1,998,000

Sold for: $2,025,000

Sold on: April 9

Days on market in this listing: 20

Listing agent: Bob Bracken at ReMax Real Estate Services

Buyers agent: Mark Landrigan PREC at Oakwyn Realty

The big sell: According to listing agent Bob Bracken, multiple offers were received for this eight-bedroom revenue-generating property that comes with long-term tenants already in place, pushing the final sale price to over the $2-million dollar mark. The home in question is a three-level house located in the heart of Kitsilano. It was built in 1912 and currently comprises a mix of suites including a two-bedroom self-contained suite on the top floor, a three-bedroom self-contained suite on the main level, and three sleeping rooms on the ground floor alongside a bathroom, eating area, fridge, microwave, sink, common area, storage, and a separate entrance. To the rear of the property is a fenced yard for residents’ use. The shops along West 4th Avenue and West Broadway are nearby, as well as McBride Park with its playground and tennis courts.

These transactions were compiled by Nicola Way of BestHomesBC.com.

Realtors — send your recent sales to nicola@besthomesbc.com

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When a property can accommodate covered parking for 10 vehicles — and uncovered for twice that — you know it’s big. The grounds of this two-storey wood frame Sardis house are certainly sprawling: the 1.5 acreage, surrounded by stretches of neighbouring green farmland, includes an in-ground pool with detached pool house/bar with sink and fridge, outdoor shower, in-ground hot tub, putting green, and expansive upper and lower heated decks with mountain views. Perfect for parties.

A detached out-building with eight roll-up doors that currently houses a leased business includes a self-contained two-bedroom suite up top and a separate caretaker’s suite below — ideal for revenue-generating opportunities, or a variety of other options.

Listing agent for the property Gregory Newberry of Pathway Executives Realty Inc., says if a buyer opted not to continue the business lease, the spacious outbuilding could be used as a workshop, storage, gym, studio, hobbies, or for tinkering on cars.

A natural gas fire pit with bench seating and surrounding grassy area sits between the shops and the back of the house. At the side is space to park an RV with hook-ups.

If golf doesn’t interest, the putting green can be remade into a dog run or child’s play area.

The home’s two patios feature natural gas fireplaces as well as phantom screens that raise and lower at the touch of a button. “They enclose the patios, keep the heat in, the bugs out, and create a nice warm space” for year-round use, says Newberry.

A huge generator runs the entire property, and part of the outbuilding is fitted with solar panels for energy efficiency.

“The interest I’ve been getting is for generational living,” says Newberry of potential buyers. “Two and three, in one case four, families who want to amalgamate into one property. It’s usually the mom and dad, their two married kids with maybe their own kids. So you have three families who have sold their respective homes and now want to occupy this property together.”

What’s inside

Inside the six-bedroom, six-bathroom, 4,988-square-foot home, slat walls cover the entranceway, laundry and living room, as well as some of the ceilings. In the great room and primary bedrooms, coffered ceilings add texture and depth, while engineered hardwood flooring extends throughout the entire home.

The open concept main living area, with doors leading to the pool deck, features a kitchen with large island and quartz countertops, pendant lighting above and under-cabinet lighting below. There’s also a small prep kitchen and wet bar with wine storage. A large butler’s pantry sits to the right of the kitchen and, for extra storage, behind the kitchen and down a hallway there’s a big barn door that opens into a huge additional pantry.

All the bathroom floors are heated, and all showers are large walk-in type with oversized tiles. Each bedroom (most are en suite) features large walk-in closets, and the two primary bedroom en suites feature a soaker tub. One primary bedroom has a deck with a gas fireplace and overhead heaters, a cozy space to take in the mountain views year-round.

In addition to the two on the patios, there are six natural gas fireplaces throughout the home, including in the two primary bedrooms, to keep the house toasty in winter, and air-conditioning to keep it cool in summer.

Upstairs is a “golf room” (which could convert to a games or rec room) with vaulted ceilings, a putting green carpet, wet bar and fireplace. There’s also a separate dedicated gym/work-out space.

In the neighbourhood

The home is smack dab in the middle of fertile farmland but a mere five-minute drive to the freeway, about 10 minutes to the shops, services and restaurants of Sardis, 20 minutes to downtown Chilliwack, and 15 minutes to Abbotsford. The closest school is Greendale Elementary, 600 metres away, while a school bus takes students to many other schools a bit farther away.

Several nearby golf courses include the 18-hole executive Cultus Lake Golf Club, a 20-minute drive away. Cultus Lake is also popular with families for its amusement park and “B.C.’s biggest waterpark”.

Closer still is the Chilliwack River, which lures anglers during salmon and steelhead seasons, and its miles of walking and running trails that run alongside it.

Three minutes away is the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve, which manages 325 acres of forests and wetlands and the large breeding colony of Pacific Great Blue Herons that nest here from March to July. The reserve is also surrounded by scenic trails with boardwalks, bridges and a lookout tower for spotting herons and other birdlife.

Although the home currently isn’t using outdoor space for dedicated flower or vegetable gardens, new owners could certainly opt to plant them. If not, Sardis is famous for its farms, both industrial and boutique, with fresh fruit and vegetables readily available throughout the spring, summer and fall.

Location:6257 Sumas Prairie Road, Sardis

Listed for: $4,350,000

Year built: 2020

Type: Six bedrooms, six bathrooms

Size: 4,988 square feet

Realtor: Listed by Gregory Newberry, Pathway Executives Realty Inc.

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After a cloudy, damp beginning, the inevitable warm summer weather of June will begin in earnest. As Greater Vancouver is already imposing serious water restrictions, we all need to mitigate the amount of water we use in our containers and landscapes. Selecting more drought-tolerant plants is certainly one way of dealing with this issue, but there is far more to it.

Water conservation in our gardens and landscapes requires strategic, long-term thinking and planning. It begins with a diversified approach. First of all, plants that have similar water requirements can be grouped and planted in such a way that they can help each other by providing shade and protection from drying winds.

Soil is perhaps the most critical element for all plants, especially in urban areas. So many new developments remove existing soil, construct their projects, and then plant using minimal amounts of good soil. Consequently, the soil in these new beds is often too shallow to support green space plantings and allow them to thrive. As the trees, shrubs, and lawns begin to grow, they require far too much water in the heat of summer to keep them healthy. Their limited root space causes many plants to go into stress, which renders them more susceptible to both disease and other pest problems.

The same is true of containers. Small baskets and planters dry out far too quickly, require watering far more often, and risk stressing out the plants, making their performance far less satisfactory.

Larger containers that have a critical mass of soil will need to be watered less often, making it easier for the plants to grow with less care. The addition of organic matter like Sea Soil and composted manures makes an important difference in the health of the plants and can significantly reduce the amount of irrigation required.

For all your plantings, be they in beds or containers, proper soil preparation is the key to success for all plants, from annuals to trees and shrubs. The planting hole you create should be twice as wide and deep as the size of the root system of the plant. Heavy soils can be amended with fine fir bark mulch and organic matter like Sea Soil, to hold the moisture around the new roots.

While composted manures are wonderful for vegetables, annuals, and perennials, most trees and shrubs are acid-loving, and manures are too alkaline for success. Fine fir bark, kelp and fish meal are the main ingredients of Sea Soil and are much better in helping to minimize water needs, while also aiding the roots to grow down deeper.

Cedar hedges have become a huge issue for care and watering over the past few years. Unfortunately, most hedges were never planted properly in the first place, with good, amended soil, and they are subsequently seldom adequately watered or fed. As a rule, their roots are shallow and as the hot summer weather dries them out, they struggle to survive. This is evident in late summer when we see so many dry brown trees in local hedges.

Older, more well-established hedges can sometimes be revived by working in some quality blended soils around the outside of the root zone of the trees. Try to do this on rainy days to ease the stress on the topmost roots. Work these good soil blends down about three to four inches. In addition, work in some time-release fertilizer like EverGro’s Evergreen and Broadleaf 14-7-14 fertilizer to provide much needed nutrient over a longer period.

Next, it’s important to water well and deeply. Finally, add a soaker hose or drip irrigation to help keep the soil moist going forward. Top dressing with a mulch will really help retain even minimal moisture. Drip systems are by far the most time efficient and are effective, however you must check the soil regularly to see how far down the moisture has penetrated — it can be deceiving with these systems, because you do need to water deeply to keep the roots growing downward. This is important if you want to turn even tired hedges into full, vibrant privacy screens. As a reminder, all trees and shrubs need to be watered at their drip line, which is the outer perimeter of the foliage.

Smart watering is one of the most effective ways to save water. The concept is to keep water off the foliage of the trees and keep it focused on the root zones. Pulsating sprinklers waste a good deal of water through evaporation and misdirected water spraying on sidewalks and roadways. For lawns, underground systems with efficient waterheads are the best ways to irrigate turf when allowed.

Soaker hoses are a great way to water vegetable, annual, and perennial gardens. When carefully placed, the water goes directly to the root zone, and less water is used.

Watering in the morning when the temperature is on the rise is by far the most efficient time to water. Evening watering results in plants transpiring moisture away, and essentially not making the best use of it. Watering in the heat of the day is not recommended because of the loss to evaporation and danger of burning the foliage.

Using plants in our gardens that are both more heat and drought tolerant is certainly important. They all need about six months to a year to become established well enough to minimize their watering requirements. We can all still use our favourite plants and pollinators, but we also still need to ensure proper soil preparation.

Some of my personal “go-to” drought resistant plants for summer colour include lantanas, portulaca, salvias and zinnias. For perennials, achillea, echinacea, gaillardia, lavender perovskia, rudbeckia and sedums are some of the best. While there are many sources offering additional suggestions, for a comprehensive list, be sure to check out the FireSmart B.C. Landscaping Guide. Not only does it offer proactive tips for keeping your garden FireSmart, it evaluates several annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs based on their moisture requirements once established. To view the guide, visit firesmartbc.ca/resource/landscaping-guide .

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In a city where renovations often go modern and open-plan, Caroline Haselden knew she wanted something different for her family’s circa-1926 Dutch Colonial.

“As much as I can appreciate and admire a West Coast modern esthetic, I knew that I wanted something to reflect more of who we are,” says Haselden. “Something a little more eclectic and mixed.”

Haselden and her family had moved from the U.S. a few years prior. They bought homes in Vancouver and Whistler around the same time, then turned to local interior designer Gillian Segal to renovate both.

“It was a really interesting and fun exercise, working with the same client on two projects in two different locations at the same time,” recalls Segal. The Vancouver house was plenty the project on its own: a 4,000-square-foot character home in the city’s Shaughnessy neighbourhood.

It was the kind of place that appealed right away to a family with a wide-ranging backstory and a soft spot for older homes. Haselden grew up in Mississippi, and her husband hails from Charleston, South Carolina. They’d also lived in New York for a decade before relocating to B.C.

“We’ve never bought or built a new construction, and we’ve done projects in various places in the 21 years we’ve been married,” says Haselden. “I just like the character … I think it makes spaces unique.”

Segal set out to bring the home up to “modern living standards,” making it more functional for the couple and their three children plus dogs, while holding onto the character they’d fallen for in the first place.

On the main floor, that meant forgoing an open plan: the home’s living and dining areas retain their original, partitioned configuration. Also intact are original oak floors with walnut inlays on the main level. “We wanted to keep the original floors, even though they’re not perfect … [Gillian] totally got that,” says Haselden.

To contend with an unusually long living room, Segal carved out two sitting areas that suit how the family likes to relax and entertain, creating a cohesive space with “conversational groupings.”

“When you have a party and you have 20 people over, you’re not sitting around in a circle; you’re having little offshoot conversations,” says Segal.

The first cluster centres around a custom fluted Masana Stone fireplace. A speckled velvet loveseat, veined marble side table and an almost medieval-looking metal sconce punctuate an otherwise soft palette of creams and greys.

The second grouping, backing onto the first, feels more playful, with an art deco-leaning maroon velvet sectional, rose-toned accents and a swooping Krane pendant light from Roll & Hill.

A sunlit lounge area extends off the living room, with four low-profile lounge chairs arranged around a round coffee table, bordered by bay windows. A custom buffet complements an antique iron garden cart — now a bar – which Segal spotted and picked up on a trip to L.A.

“Gillian loves to mix newer things with old things, and she was really good at finding vintage pieces,” says Haselden.

The interplay of old, new and offbeat continues in a tiny powder room, where chocolate-hued grasscloth wallpaper meets vintage Murano glass sconces. A starkly veined marble sink draws focus, set off with a matching window frame. “We only really had room for this teeny, tiny wall-mounted sink. So we decided to make it the most fabulous wall-mounted sink that we could,” says Segal.

The dining room injects a dose of colour, with millwork and mouldings painted a dusty green (Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke), against a textured cream wallpaper. A slender Lindsey Adelman chandelier and striped Lawson Fenning dining chairs set off a weighty rectilinear dining table.

Upstairs, Segal and team reconfigured the layout to create more efficient spaces and storage. In the primary suite, custom millwork tucks into sloped ceilings. Low bouclé armchairs, breezy drapes, a muted geometric rug and over-draped bed linens give an air of unstudied calm.

Moving into the primary ensuite, the feel is more formal. Custom fluted plaster details echo the living room fireplace, adding texture to a layered palette of cream and gold. Bevelled quartzite countertops top traditional cabinetry with gold hardware, paired with art deco-inspired light fixtures.

Framed by a stone arch and enclosed with glass, the shower reads like a hidden alcove – a contemporary nod to the kind of built-in bathing niches found in some historical homes.

“Again, we really were just trying to strike this balance between a nod to the [character] of the home and traditional detailing through a more contemporary lens,” says Segal.

This balance holds throughout the home. A few years on, it’s what gives the design its staying power, says Segal: “I think it feels really timeless and fresh. So I feel like it has aged very well. To me, it still feels like we could have finished it yesterday.”

Project design:Gillian Segal Design

Project construction:Eyco Building Group

Project millwork:Sage Cabinetry

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Weekly roundup of three properties that recently sold in Metro Vancouver.

2711 Trinity St., Vancouver

Type: Six-bedroom, three-bathroom detached

Size: 2,545 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,815,000

Listed for: $1,850,000

Sold for: $2,170,000

Sold on: April 24

Days on market in this listing: Eight

Listing agent: Karley Rice PREC at Macdonald Realty

Buyers agent: Shannon McNulty PREC at Stilhavn Real Estate Services

The big sell: According to listing agent Karley Rice, the winning bidder for this six-bedroom East Vancouver property presented a subject-free offer for $320,000 over the listed price that sealed the deal. What contributed to the appeal? She cites a beautifully renovated character home that offers both charm and functionality alongside a location on Trinity Street within the popular Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood. Add to the mix a longer-than-average fully fenced 127-foot lot, and a house that displays original architectural details from its 1930s beginnings including inlaid oak floors, stained-glass windows, and a wood-burning fireplace. There are two bedrooms and one bathroom on each of the home’s three levels (including a two-bedroom suite on the lower floor) with the main level also providing a conjoined living and dining room, and a custom kitchen with an eating area and far-reaching views. The upper floor has skylights and a bespoke diamond picture window that frames the West Coast views.

530 — 3563 Ross Dr., Vancouver

Type: Two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment

Size: 936 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,245,000

Listed for: $1,229,000

Sold for: $1,137,000

Sold on: March 28

Days on market in this listing: 30

Listing agent: Shafik Ladha PREC at ReMax Westcoast

Buyers agent: Michael Tudorie at ReMax Select Realty

The big sell: The Residences at Nobel Park were constructed by Polygon in 2020 within the award-winning master-planned community of UBC’s Wesbrook Village next to a treed greenway and parks, and surrounded by vibrant amenities. Comprising a mix of apartments and townhomes, the complex also provides a fitness studio and lounge for residents. This bright two-bedroom, two-bathroom south-facing corner home bathes in panoramic treed vistas from every room and features an open-concept floorplan with nine-foot-high ceilings, oversized windows, engineered wood floors, air conditioning, and premium stainless-steel appliances, a marble tile backsplash and a breakfast bar peninsula in the designer kitchen. Additionally, the home comes with a wraparound balcony, a parking stall in the underground garage, and a monthly maintenance fee of $427.25.

855 Pacific Dr., Tsawwassen

Type: Three-bedroom, three-bathroom detached

Size: 2,748 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,905,000

Listed for: $1,850,000

Sold for: $1,850,000

Sold on: Feb. 10

Days on market in this listing: Five

Listing agent: Aileen Noguer PREC at ReMax Westcoast

Buyers agent: Todd Hart at Macdonald Realty Westmar

The big sell: It took just five days to sell this three-bedroom Tsawwassen house for the full asking price. What was on offer is a 2,700-square-foot three-level 1960s home on a sizable 17,815-square-foot lot. According to listing agent Aileen Noguer, the residence had been meticulously cared for by the long-term owner who had completed updates to the roof, hot water tank, and furnace. Inside, the rooms are spacious with a 25-foot-long living room complete with stone-surround fireplace, a formal dining room, and a white kitchen with an adjacent eating area. All three bedrooms are located upstairs including a primary bedroom with a full ensuite bathroom and a southern-exposed balcony. The lower floor has a family room, a wet bar area, and a third bathroom. Outside, there is an oversized double garage accessed via an expansive semicircular driveway, and a garden with mature landscaping and multiple seating areas.

These transactions were compiled by Nicola Way of BestHomesBC.com.

Realtors — send your recent sales to nicola@besthomesbc.com

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Father’s Day is coming June 21, and if the gift card aisle is feeling a little stale this year, we’ve got five homewares that are sure to make your dad smile. Note: there are no hammers or beer coolers on our list — instead we look at the best gadgets and gizmos to make cooking more effortless, gardening more exciting and sleeping more sound.

Bundlpro Kitchen Tweezer Tongs

Pops might not know he needs a set of precision kitchen tweezers tongs until he has them. Four sizes tackle everything from flipping meat on the grill to grabbing that last pickle at the bottom of the jar. Built from rust-resistant steel, dishwasher safe and easy to grip, these tweezer tongs bring surgical precision to everyday cooking.

Amazon $33.99

Bee Cups Watering Stations

For the dad who loves his garden, this might be the sweetest gift you’ll find. These handcrafted porcelain flowers double as tiny drinking stations for bees, featuring a unique ultraviolet glaze visible only to pollinators, drawing them in the way real blooms do. Artful and eco-conscious with no plastic in its production and packaging, it’s a gift that gives back to nature too.

Amazon $12.80

Swiss Diamond Frying Pan

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What do Vancouver’s Fairmont Waterfront, Mexico’s Rosewood Mayakoba and Victoria’s Rosemead Hotel have in common? Each of these design-led hotels have a deep connection with their local surroundings. Find out how to unpack their five-star style at home.

Coastal luxury

When you first enter one of the newly renovated suites at the Fairmont Waterfront , the narrative that informed its reimagining immediately becomes clear: A panoramic vista of the mountains, the ocean and the endlessly shifting light of the Vancouver sky instantly takes over.

That’s entirely by design, says Karine Bannon, designer behind the hotel’s fresh take and senior project director at Montreal’s CAMDI Design. The renovation of 96 guest rooms across the top four floors is the first phase of a longer transformation happening over the next four years at Fairmont Waterfront.

Bannon describes the guiding design concept as one rooted in place rather than convention. Instead of reaching for the obvious nautical references one might expect from a waterfront property, team CAMDI went deeper with a more atmospheric, sensory approach.

“The idea of coastal luxury was integrated into a palette and material selection that feels both refined and deeply connected to the surrounding Vancouver landscape,” says Bannon. “[We pulled] from the surrounding mountains, the driftwood, the fog, the natural light, the reflections from the harbour.”

The result is a suite that feels restorative and coastal. Strong stone finishes next to soft woven textures in dusky blues, greys and greens meet the warm modernism of sculpturally curved wood-toned furniture. Brushed gold accents cast a honey glow throughout.

Tropical modern

There’s a very good reason why visitors have been checking in to Rosewood Mayakoba in Mexico’s Riviera Maya since it opened in 2008. Spacious villas boast private plunge pools and overlook winding lagoons and dense jungle beyond. White sandy beaches are within easy reach via the vintage-inspired cruiser-styled bicycles parked at the front door.

The evolution of this five-star property is also a compelling study in creating an authentic sense of place. Studio Bando x Seidel Meersseman consulted anthropologists for a multi-million-dollar renovation to create decors inspired by Mayan culture and esthetics — but through a contemporary lens. Villas showcase a calming material palette of natural woods, and grounding terracotta, stone and beige neutrals. Many accent pieces — such as clay pots, embroidered textiles and woven baskets — are sourced directly from the Mexican communities that have produced them for generations.

Vancouver’s Treana Peake , founder of ethical lifestyle brand Obakki, has spent nearly 20 years sourcing handwoven textiles, ceramics and stone objects directly from these artisans. Her Rosewood Mayakoba x Obakki Artisan Marketplace collaboration sells pieces at the resort and online, with part of the proceeds supporting K’iin Beh, a bilingual non-profit school for local children.

Heritage maximalism

Rosemead House is Aragon Properties’ boutique hotel on Vancouver Island. Part of the redevelopment of The Olde England Inn estate in Esquimalt, the original family home was designed by Canadian architect Samuel Maclure in 1906. The Tudor-Revivalist manor changed hands many times, until Aragon’s president and founder Lenny Moy acquired its four-acre site in 2015. Ten years on and the property’s transformation comprises a hotel with 28 unique guest rooms, a spa, and a restaurant, as well as a residential development called Oakwoods .

Rather than leaning too heavily into a themed “English manor” esthetic, Aragon’s in-house senior interior designer Karen Wichert drew inspiration from its traditional interior while mixing in modern elements that maintain its character and elegance.

“The [esthetic] is more of a maximalist style that blends the antiques, the artwork, the wall coverings and the finishes, bold patterns and colours and details,” says Wilchert.

The palette features classic tones such as ivory, deep greens and blues. No two rooms are the same, and finishes include classic William Morris-patterned wallpaper alongside contemporary textiles to keep the look cohesive rather than overly decorated. Antiques curated from the Savoy and Dorchester hotels in London and clawfoot tubs are seamlessly blended with modern luxe creature comforts such as Duxiana king-sized beds and heated bathroom floor tiles.

The goal isn’t to recreate the room — it’s to recreate the feeling

We asked interior designer Nikki Renshaw, program director at Vancouver’s Interior Design Diploma and Certificate department at The Cut Design Academy, how to achieve a similar five-star style at home.

Her advice is to invest in timeless base pieces, not trend driven shapes. “If you’re spending money on a sofa, keep it neutral,” says Renshaw. “Trends change quickly. You don’t want to be stuck with something that dates your space.”

Instead, layer in personality through pieces that are easy to update, such as cushions, throws, wallpaper or paint, she explains.

“You’re looking for high-impact, easily changeable ways to transform your space,” adds Renshaw. “That’s where you can have fun with trends.”

She also suggests maintaining visual continuity between rooms with consistent colours, as keeping sightlines open and uncluttered creates a sense of flow.

“Make sure that what you can see from one room… supports the look you’ve got going on,” she says. “It creates this feeling of openness and airiness.”

When mixing heritage with modern, build intentional vignettes — groupings of threes and fives — and leave negative space so the eye can rest, says Renshaw.

To avoid a period-piece feel, she suggests blending modern elements with heirloom pieces.

“It should feel like it’s evolved over time. Not like a [theatre] set.”

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For Patkau Studio, furniture design begins much the same way architecture does: through material exploration, experimentation and an interest in how people emotionally experience space.

The Vancouver-based studio, an extension of Patkau Architects, has unveiled Maitake Eclos, a sculptural modular table created in collaboration with Cosentino using Eclos, the company’s newly developed mineral-based surface material. Made from recycled minerals and designed to look and feel like natural stone, the material offered the studio an opportunity to push its long-standing interest in fluid forms.

“When Cosentino first approached us with Eclos, we didn’t just see a new material, we saw an invitation to test its sculptural potential,” says John Patkau, founding principal of Patkau Architects.

“Our goal was to translate the fluid, organic forms we value into this innovative mineral medium. Maitake Eclos captures the tension between nature and precision, with sensuous forms that feel both rooted in nature and rigorous in their execution,” he says.

Originally developed in solid wood, the Maitake table system went through a series of different designs, says Patkau.

Rather than emphasizing the material’s rectilinear qualities, the studio leaned into curvilinear geometry, using CNC stone routing to create the table’s distinctive tapered edges and fluid profiles. The result is a modular system that can shift from restrained and minimal to expansive and highly expressive depending on how the pieces are configured.

A focus on flexibility

For principal Greg Boothroyd, adaptability was central to the design.

“One thing that makes this table unique is its adaptability to a client’s particular environment. If someone has a spot that demands a simple arrangement for a traditional setting, Maitake Eclos can do that. On the other hand, if someone has a setting that demands a complex organic arrangement, Maitake can also do that,” he says.

This table maintains a strong connection to nature through both its form and materiality.

“When you experience it, it is sensuous and calming,” says Boothroyd.

That tactile quality of the table appears to be resonating with audiences already. Officially launched during DesignTO in Toronto in late May, visitors responded not only visually, but physically.

“People loved the tables. They were coming up and touching them, some even crawling on the floor to get a better view of the sculpted edges,” says Anna Reynolds, Patkau’s director of operations.

The table series will also be shown, this month, at Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign festival, and in Montreal and Vancouver this summer.

New possibilities

While Patkau Studio has previously worked with Cosentino’s Dekton material on architectural projects, the team says Eclos opens entirely new possibilities.

“We are eager to keep exploring organic geometries using Eclos. The unique full-body consistency and sculptural potential of this product open up many opportunities to scale these same fluid characteristics up into architectural applications,” says Boothroyd.

This collaboration also marked a significant milestone for Patkau Studio.

“What set it apart was Cosentino’s global reach,” says Zachary Morris, the studio’s head of product development and fabrication.

“It was a new experience for our studio to simultaneously fabricate our first Maitake Eclos tables on two different continents — in Toronto for North America, and in Cantoria for Europe,” he says.

New lighting

The studio is also preparing to launch the latest addition to its Minima Lightform series, continuing its exploration of adaptable, sculptural objects that bridge architecture, furniture and lighting design.

“The Minima 4 is a versatile lightform. Like Maitake, it can adapt to its environment. The table lamp version has an adjustable foot, offering two different poses. The pendant version comes in playful clusters of 3, 6, 9, or sky’s the limit with a custom configuration to suit any space,” says Morris.

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The Vancouver Island community of Port Alberni is set to star in a new TV show.

The B.C. town, which is home to some 18,000 residents, was chosen from a pool of hundreds of destinations across the country that applied for the first season of Hometown Takeover Canada.

Once a booming forestry town — Port Alberni was the site of the province’s first sawmill in 1860 — the town has seen a marked shift in its economy following the industry downturn, devastating wildfire impacts of recent years and more.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to shine a light on the people, businesses and community spirit that make Port Alberni such a special place,” said Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions. “Our city is built on resilience, pride and connection, and we are thrilled to share that story with viewers across the country.”

Selected from the submissions in a joint decision by Rogers Sports & Media and HGTV, the western Vancouver Island town’s handling of hardships and its resulting resilience is what made it the perfect pick for the show, according to host Bryan Baeumler.

“It’s a community that has faced significant challenges but has never lost its determination,” Baeumler, who shares the hosting duties with his wife Sarah, said. “There is a tremendous sense of pride, resilience and entrepreneurial spirit here. When you spend time in Port Alberni, you quickly realize this isn’t a town looking for a handout — it’s a town ready for an opportunity.”

The Canadian version of the U.S. TV series, which stars Ben and Erin Napier and is set in Laurel, Miss., the show will mirror its American predecessor. Both longtime renovation experts and TV hosts, the Baeumlers will bring their expertise overhauling homes and businesses to offer a reboot to the community that is said to be the ‘salmon capital of the world.’

“I think people will be surprised by just how real the impact is,” says Baeumler. “Unlike a traditional renovation show where you’re transforming a single property, these projects become part of the fabric of an entire community. Viewers can actually visit the businesses, parks, public spaces and neighbourhoods they see onscreen.

“We’ve seen firsthand in the U.S. how communities have experienced increased tourism, new business investment and renewed civic pride after participating in the show.”

The potential ripple effect, he notes, can be “enormous.”

Reached by Postmedia News by email, hometown host Ben Napier says being a part of the revitalization of small towns has been a dream come true for the couple.

“And now Sarah and Bryan get to experience that magic,” he said.

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The modest West Vancouver home that helped define West Coast modernism is among the stops on this year’s West Coast Modern Home Tour.

Designed by artist B.C. Binning, the B.C. Binning House has been called Canada’s first truly modern residence. A major restoration and expansion project was completed last year on the home.

Also on the tour is the Fells House. One of the tour’s architectural highlights, the cedar-clad residence exemplifies the West Coast Modern ideal of integrating architecture with the natural landscape. D’Arcy Jones Architects recently renovated the home, which was designed by renowned architect Ron Thom in 1959.

Other homes include Rockview House, designed by ABC Architecture Building Culture, 2024; Fuldauer House, designed by Erickson-Massey Architects, 1966; and Stigant House, designed by Bob Lewis, 1967.

Since it began, the West Coast Modern Home Tour has introduced visitors to more than 70 unique West Vancouver homes, from original mid-century to contemporary architect-designed dwellings.

The home tour is part of West Coast Modern Week 2026 (July 7 to 12).

When: July 11, noon to 4 p.m.

Cost : $160 (self-drive) & $180 (bus)

Tickets are on sale now at westvancouverartmuseum.ca

A quiet shift is taking shape in Vancouver homes, and across design feeds everywhere: Small, awkward spaces that used to be ignored are now being transformed. Every odd corner seems to have a purpose.

Giving awkward spaces a new purpose

Teresa Budd reworked a small landing above the entryway into a cosy dog nook, complete with a bed and a basket of toys. Frank, her wire-haired wiener dog, loves his perch as it’s perfect for peeking at visitors as they enter the home.

“Before Frank, we didn’t know what to do with the awkward space,” Budd shares.

Homeowners are reclaiming “builder shelves” that were a common inclusion in homes with vaulted ceilings in the early 2000s, transforming the once decorative dust collectors into bonus spaces.

Kaitlyn Bristowe, Canadian TV personality, podcast host, and entrepreneur, has tapped into this trend, turning an awkward upper-level loft ledge into a sitting area in her Nashville home, complete with a ladder for access.

A shift in how space Is used

To make better use of unusual spaces, designers and DIYers are creating “petite pockets” — mini-spaces optimized for work, play, or storage.

Vancouver interior designers Megan Dengerink and Neema Kulkarni, of Home|Made Spatial Design , have watched the shift unfold firsthand.

“We’ve seen this as an increased priority,” says Dengerink. “In Vancouver’s heritage houses, everybody was using all of the nooks and crannies for storage. There’s been a shift to using those spaces for something else: a small built-in bar in a closet or a home office in a corner, for example.”

On why this shift is happening, Dengerink points to housing costs. “With the rising cost of real estate, it used to be that people saw their rental place or first home as a starter spot. Now, more and more people are lifetime renters because the cost of living is so high.”

Kulkarni explains how that mindset shows up in design thinking: “Designers will look at both form and function. If there is a closet under the stairs, you’re thinking, this could be a great coat closet or storage, but your mind also goes to: what’s the potential for this beyond that?”

Designing ‘petite pockets’ in Vancouver homes

One recent project illustrates exactly how a “petite pocket” can be transformed.

“Harold’s office is a really good example. In a small bedroom, we were able to take a nook and turn it into an office,” says Kulkarni. “The space now functions as a guest room or exercise room, but the office can coexist with either. Not only is it used daily, but there is also a window that brings in additional light and makes the room feel bigger.”

Dengerink shares another example: “Maegan’s potting shed is a good example too. A small stand-alone building in the backyard, probably 60 square feet, was retrofitted into a ceramics studio.

“It takes something that was full of debris and turns it into a functional space that takes pressure off the main house and gives her an opportunity to do something she wouldn’t have been able to do at home otherwise.”

For those on a tighter budget, Dengerink suggests looking at vintage and second-hand pieces.

“There are so many options on the resale market, small mid-century corner cabinets designed to fit into awkward spaces but packed with functionality.”

For a simple DIY approach, says Dengerink: “Take the door off a closet, paint the interior walls, and it can become a library, bar, office — you name it.”

As small-space living and functional design continue to evolve in Vancouver, that space demand is also shifting.

“We’re increasingly getting inquiries from families about renovating single-family homes into multi-generational dwellings,” says Kulkarni.

“These aren’t just parents moving in with adult kids, these are families where the second generation is staying or moving back. If it’s not feasible to divide the home into separate apartments, petite pockets can be what makes that work. Creating pockets of privacy is key to successful cohabitation among adults.”

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Is it a house? A townhouse? A duplex? Is it detached? Semi-detached? These are the head-scratching questions that interested buyers ask when they tour Yewbrook Place, a unique development overlooking the Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver.

The answer, essentially, is yes. It is a house. It looks like a townhouse. It is semi-detached. It is a duplex, kind of. As Crystal Hung of Icon & Co. Boutique Inc. real estate marketing and sales agency puts it, “There isn’t even a category on MLS to categorize it, it’s so unique. It’s called a ‘bare land strata’, a big parcel of land that 13 homeowners share in a subdivision. They look like townhomes but they’re all individual single lots, with unobstructed views of the 105-acre golf course.

“There’s a lot more to it behind the structure when you enter the home .”

What’s inside

Hung says each structure is designed and built a bit differently. This particular home comprises two-and-a-half bathrooms, three bedrooms plus an open office over two levels connected by stairs and a private elevator. Four new terraces comprise almost 2,000 square feet with heaters above two of them.

The property was renovated twice since it was built in 1982, the last time, in 2023, cost more than $1 million.

The current homeowner, a construction executive, undertook an extensive overhaul, says Hung. “Everything was taken out — roofing, decks, drainage, mechanical, pipes, plumbing, electrical wiring, a lot of insulation, all window systems, the entire flooring was re-levelled, the rooftop deck was rebuilt and waterproofed, and interior and exterior finishes were upgraded. It’s basically a brand-new build.”

She says the homeowner spent $180,000 on the hardwood, tiles, and carpeted flooring alone. Roughly $20,000 of that was just on levelling and waterproofing, from the rooftop deck all the way downstairs. She also invested more than $100,000 on custom-made EuroLine Windows and patio doors.

“Because she’s a construction expert, she didn’t do it just for cosmetic reasons,” says Hung of the extensive renovations. “It was to be her forever home, and it was that long-term thinking she had in mind when she was renovating. She spent all the money and did the work (so it would be) very low maintenance. It’s like a house without the house problem. But she was being drawn too often to grandkids in Richmond …”

There are two gas fireplaces, and extensive skylights span the top of the main entrance, above the staircase and into the kitchen.

All three bedrooms are on the main floor, one of which is being used as a gym (and could also be converted to a home theatre). One features a Murphy bed, and another could be reconfigured to accommodate a live-in caretaker for a downsizer who wants to age in place. The primary bedroom is en suite with a jetted soaker tub and walk-in shower.

There’s also an open office space by the kitchen. “Being a female executive, she’s always in her kitchen and office,” says Hung. “It didn’t make sense to have a third seating room, so she turned it into an office.”

Kitchen appliances include a Wolf range and Sub-Zero refrigerator. There is also a wine fridge next to the wall stoves and a backup fridge by the elevator. Cabinetry, including in the library/TV room, was designed and crafted in B.C. by Nicole Mah Design. Customized Emtek hardware was also incorporated throughout the home.

The elevator was installed by Cambridge Cambrian Elevator from Western Elevator Ltd at a cost of $40,000.

The owner also had a Hydropool AquaSport self-cleaning, energy-efficient jetted swim spa installed for $35,000. “The coolest thing I learned about this pool is that you can swim stationary laps for a full-body workout, use the rowing system to work the upper body, and run or jog underwater for a cardiovascular workout,” says Hung. “The insulation layer inside of the system uses the same technology as NASA for protecting its astronauts from minus 273 degrees in outer space.”

The homeowner also enlisted Repel Technologies to integrate smart home technology, including a brand-new, top-of-the-line security system with the latest alarm sensors on all openings, glass break detectors on windows, CCTV cameras, as well as automatic blinds, temperature, AC, and lighting that can all be controlled with a smartphone or iPad.

The home comes with a two-car garage and an EV charging station, plus extra visitor parking.

“I think the bare land strata is an interesting topic that’s misunderstood,” says Hung, who notes that owners can undertake any renovations, additions or adjustments as long as they obtain the appropriate permits and follow architectural standards and strata guidelines to protect the integrity and esthetic of the complex. Each homeowner pays $900 in monthly strata fees for landscaping in public areas.

“It’s a great model because it’s gentle, it’s respectful, it’s clean, there are lots of benefits that, unless you live there, are not well-known. I think it’s a much better option than building six homes on one tiny lot.”

In the neighbourhood

Hung says she envisions the next homeowner as a downsizer who is looking for something safe and quiet, close to public and private schools, including UBC 10 minutes away, YVR 15 minutes away, and several top golf courses, including the private Marine Drive Golf Club, close by.

Stairs leading outside connect with a walkway that links to the Fraser River trail system and the Pacific Spirit Regional Park and beyond.

Grocery stores, shops and restaurants are a walk, bike or drive up West 57th Avenue, or seven minutes over to Dunbar Village and Kerrisdale Village on W. 41st Avenue.

Location:2236 Yewbrook Place , Vancouver

Listed for: $4,788,000

Year built: 1982

Type: Three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms

Size: 4,330 square feet

Realtor: Listed by Crystal Hung, Icon&Co. Boutique Inc., Vancouver

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