Homes

Way Back WL: A Sunny Galiano Island Home Circa 2003

To celebrate 50 years of Western Living, we're digging through the archives and sharing our favourite throwback designs.

By Anicka Quin /

Mining through 50 years of editorial archives is a trip, even for someone like myself, who's been with the magazine in various capacities since 2003. I decided to start with the archives from that year, when I was still a junior editor, and see those spaces with new eyes€”and I was immediately rewarded with this delightful discovery.

Back then, budding architecture students Todd MacAllen and Stephanie Forsythe were praised by writer Trevor Boddy for their first project out of school€”this lovely Galiano Island home they designed for Mac-Allen's parents. It was an auspicious beginning for a duo that would go on that same year to form Molo, the famed industrial design company that has created, among other products, the softwall, which is now a part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

Credit: Martin Tessle. Todd MacAllen, centre, designed this home with Stephanie Forsythe—the couple’s first project out of school—for his parents, Phil and Marlene MacAllen. Todd and Stephanie would go on to form the celebrated Molo.

Anicka Quin

Anicka Quin

Anicka Quin is the editor-in-chief of Western Living magazine and the VP of Content for Canada Wide Media. If you've got a home design you'd like to share with Western Living, drop her a line at [email protected]