The stony beaches of West Vancouver, secluded and pristine, kept calling them. And then they found the perfect waterfront residence: a 1969 post-and-beam classic by legendary Vancouver architect Daniel Evan White. There was just one problem: it wasn’t a classic anymore.

In fact, when the family of four invited designer Nigel Parish of Splyce Design to visit the West Coast modern house they’d purchased, neither the “West Coast” nor the “modern” were visible. The clean, mid-century lines of what was originally called Reynolds House were now buried beneath decades of unsympathetic additions.

“It had been completely divorced from the origins of White’s architecture,” laughs Parish. “White was Arthur Erickson’s first employee. But the majority of the beautiful post-and-beam structure had been covered with drywall, crown mouldings and coffered ceilings.”

Bringing It Back: This 1969 post-and-beam home from legendary architect Daniel Evan White had been through a series of bad renovations that both diminished its West Coast modern heritage and blocked the stellar ocean view. But a thoughtful new reno from Nigel Parish of Splyce Design returns the building to its roots. Photo by Ema Peter

Making matters worse, a bulky staircase and grandiose fireplace were blocking the stellar ocean view. And what, after all, is the point of a home on the beach if not to let all that light and air sail through every room?

Approaching the house today, one crosses a garden on the way toward a wall of humble shingled siding and a grey front door. Only the six-foot steel canopy hints at Parish’s bold renovation within.

Photo by Ema Peter

Inside, the change is like a blast of fresh air. A capacious white interior is pared back to its post-and-beam roots, allowing ocean views to rush toward visitors, even in the entryway.

And, most startling of all, the onerous staircase (which used to nix any view from the tucked-away kitchen) has been replaced and reoriented; the new staircase nearly levitates, a cascade of steel less than an inch thick, suspended by woven aircraft cables. Views swim easily underneath.

Right Angles: The lofted ceilings in the existing architecture shine now, and allow for special moments like a ladder that leads to a secret loft for the homeowners’ daughter (above), and a light-filled passageway in the primary suite (below). Photo by Ema Peter
Photo by Ema Peter

Those thin cables seem to mirror the joints between the original (and freshly exposed) boards in the ceiling. “We didn’t try to patch and make those perfect,” Parish explains. “The ceiling has some scars and imperfections. There’s a tension between the new and the old. It tells a story.”

The project is called ReDEW—a friendly nod to the original architect’s initials, but also an acknowledgement that this really is a “redo,” a chance to recover the building’s true spirit. Sometimes respecting the past is best done not through basic imitation but by using contemporary ideas to accommodate the earlier ethos.

Parish has done exactly that. The ReDEW building is new and classic at once. Climb that floating staircase to the primary bedroom above, and you’ll be struck by a balance of current and time-worn elements: considered new items (teardrop-shaped Artemide pendants, a whimsical cork stool by Vitra) sit beneath a weathered slope of cabin-worthy ceiling boards.

Flying High: The dramatic new staircase is crafted from steel that’s less than an inch thick and suspended by woven aircraft cables. A bulky staircase and a grandiose fireplace (below) were removed. Photo by Ema Peter

Meanwhile, the main space’s iconic windows—two double-storey triangles of glass—give everything a bold, mid-century framing. But of-the-moment furnishings still mark the homeowners’ daily lives. In a sunken living space, the central fireplace (gaudy no more) is custom-built and boxed by simple, painted steel. And the adjacent dining area is anchored by a custom-built, 12-foot table whose simple concrete supports were poured onsite and plunge straight through the fir floorboards.

Minimalist millwork by Stokk Construction provides a clean backdrop throughout for Parish’s vision of having the changing coastal light fascinate each surface. “The light creates different moods and effects constantly, so we wanted a white-on-white neutrality to enhance this.”

Dive In: Parish and the team at Splyce renovated the pool area out back, designing the hardscaping and working with Botanica for the plantings. Photo by Ema Peter

That purposeful restraint also lets each view of the outdoors deliver more colour. Through those epic triangular windows come bolts of emerald green from mature gardens and smoke blue from the Pacific’s waves. Tempted outside, one can open new sliding-glass doors and pass toward the patio, deck and pool.

Counter Point: While the home is mainly white and bright in its palette, like Silestone counters and grey elm millwork in the kitchen (above), the powder room (below) offers an elegant departure with black porcelain tiled walls, and an elongated basin. Photo by Ema Peter

Time-worn beams and timeless views are fully celebrated at last. Airy volumes, clean lines and a restrained palette manage to give this house back its proper spirit, a half-century later. It’s a home that proves you sometimes need to move forward in order to return.

Keep Scrolling to See all the Before and After Photos 

BEFORE

AFTER