Editors’ Picks: Our Favourite Western Living Homes of 2024

We’ll be reviewing our readers’ favourite stories of the year soon enough, but while we wait to tally up the final score, we’re looking back at some of our own most memorable articles. Here were our editors’ favourite home stories to read (or write!) in 2024.

Our Editors’ Favourite Homes of the Year

Hershel Supply Co. Founder Lyndon Cormack’s Modern Waterfront Oasis

I love a before-and-after. I love a dramatic light fixture. I love an over-the-top art collection. And this story by Michael Harris, profiling Herschel founder Lyndon Cormack’s home in Deep Cove, has it all. The photography by Ema Peter is just vision-board-worthy home shot after vision-board-worthy home shot—the type of story that has you sighing wistfully with every turn of the page. The scattered constellation of Bocci lights in the living room is the sort of design detail that sticks with you, long after you’ve finished the issue. —Stacey McLachlan, senior editor

 

Kelly Deck Design’s Whimsical, Modern Manor

There are so many reasons to love about this place (and yes, Steve the cat, pictured above, is certainly one of them). The checkerboard floor that transitions dark and light spaces. The homeowner’s moody home office (complete with skateboard decor) paired with her light and bright one. A kitchen made for entertaining, an art collection to die for, the traditional manor vibe made modern—and a hidden staircase. “The client had wanted a hidden Scooby Doo-inspired staircase in his house since he was a kid,” says Deck, who fulfilled that quirky homeowner dream with delight and ingenuity. “It was a fun piece of the architectural puzzle to solve.”— Anicka Quin, VP content

 

PlaidFox’s Modern Take on a Classic Vancouver Special

When I moved to Vancouver over a decade ago, I was blown away by the natural beauty—mountains, ocean and trees with flowers growing in them (wild to a prairie girl like me). But it didn’t take long to notice another Vancouver icon: the Vancouver Special. Boxy and practical, this ‘60s house style is as quintessentially Vancouver as craft beer and Lululemon. So, writing about a Vancouver Special reno by Plaidfox—a perfect blend of vintage charm and modern cool—was a dream. It made the cover (and, yes, was my first home story), but more importantly, it’s a fresh take on a city staple and a love letter to the place I’m lucky to call home.—Kerri Donaldson, assistant editor

Restoring Charm: Sophie Burke’s Remote Howe Sound Island Cabin Makeover

Maybe it’s because I’m already dreaming of my next getaway (at the time of writing, I’m fresh off a trip to Joshua Tree) or maybe it’s because I’ve been looking at our WL Home of the Year finalists, but Sophie Burke’s renovation of this near-century old coastal cabin has captured my heart. Of course part of it is the location—it’s so remote and so unplugged—but the contrast of the pale wood and black patinated hardware has me feeling all kinds of zen. I’ve said for years I want my own cabin (hey, a Millennial can hope!), and now I know the style that will make it feel like home. —Dani Wright, Managing Editor