Organic Gardening News

Don't let the hot, dry summer take a toll on your porch pots. Planting a nearly drought-proof container garden will keep your home looking great all summer long.

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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