Homes

Tour This Modern Cedar Sanctuary in the Woods

This gorgeous, post-modern home is all yours to tour at this year's West Coast Modern Home Tour.

By Ames Bordeau / June 21, 2016

This gorgeous, post-modern home is all yours to tour at this year’s West Coast Modern Home Tour.

With views of Black Mountain and Howe Sound, vegetable gardens, and a private forest setting, the home Architect Masterpiece is reminiscent of a simpler life.For the 11th year, the West Vancouver Museum will be hosting the West Coast Modern Home Tour (held July 9 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.) giving Vancouverites an opportunity to step inside the houses that form our modern design landscape. This home will be part of the 2016 tour, and shows how renowned architect Barry Downs shaped his designs to fit the environment. “Rather than destroying an entire hillside, he worked with the natural landscapes and the slopes of the land to create this home,” says realtor Tom Hassan, who recently sold the home to a young couple.

Unlike the majority of 1950s, post-World War II houses, the Madrona Crescent home, built in 1967, steers clear of the era’s traditional square-box shape. “Here we are, 50 years later, still talking about the house,” says Hassan. “It’s still exciting for someone that’s into contemporary architecture.” The home captures a true feeling of wilderness with a large portion of its back wall made entirely of glass.Perhaps the focal point of the home, the high-ceilinged living room makes use of natural cedar planking.The lot, almost 10,000 square feet, has complete privacy with ample natural B.C. woods and beautiful gardens. Interlocking brick, vegetable planters, and stairways with scattered plants are just part of the lot’s charm, which drops down into a lane leading to trails and shortcuts to Horseshoe Bay.One notable feature—remarkably innovative for the time—was to install thick chains that come down from gutter downspouts, allowing the water to drain along it. The home also features large overhangs—very typical of Downs and his contemporary Fred Hollingsworth—that appear around the house, creating a feeling of intimacy in the backyard.The house has been occupied by the same owners for more than 20 years. While certain renovations—updating bathrooms and taking out walls—were a necessity, the owners were sure to maintain the integrity of the home. The new homeowners plan to install some additions. They’ll be working with esteemed architect (and past Designers of the Year winner) Cedric Burgers on the project. “Cedric’s really excited to be spearheading this project and respects the original homeowners’ decision to stick to the intended design,” says Hassan. “I didn’t even have to sell the home because he did it all for me.” (We’re looking forward to seeing the new updates!)