50 Years of WL: #40 A Spiralling Home, Times Two

A place so nice, it was featured twice. The Spiral House, designed by architect Rol Fieldwalker, first appeared in Western Living in November 1976. At the time, we described the West Vancouver home's circular design as €œlike a whelk shell or chambered nautilus€€”which is 1970s code for €œlooks like a snail, in the best way.€

Credit: Jack Bryan/Western Living November 1976

Credit: Jack Bryan/Western Living November 1976

You get a 180-degree view of Howe Sound, a 180-degree view of the woods and a magnificent spiral that technically has no rooms: It's just one long, spinning space with zigzag windows. The separate living areas were loosely defined. There was no electricity and no driveway. It was free-flowing, beautiful chaos.

Credit: Jack Bryan/Western Living November 1976

But when Barbara and George Maryniak purchased the home in 2005, it was literally sliding off the cliffside it was built on. The couple reached out to the original architect, and Fieldwalker took on the property for a second time, building an all-new home and using part of the old foundation for a swimming pool. 

Credit: Tracey Ayton/Western Living October 2018

Compared to the original 1976 Spiral House, the 2018 update is lighter and brighter: a simple palette of slate and white walls lets the fir ceiling do all the talking.

Spiral House II was featured in WL in 2018. It includes more of the 21st-century amenities we're used to (for example, electricity and walls) but still maintains the fun: the roof is an exposed, labyrinth-like puzzle of Douglas fir beams. And, of course, that gorgeous view remains.

Credit: Tracey Ayton/Western Living October 2018

A central floating staircase leads up to an €œeagle's nest€ art studio€”and front row seats to the idyllic Howe Sound landscape.

Credit: Tracey Ayton/Western Living October 2018

To read about more great people, designs, homes and innovations that shaped Western Living, click here.