Western Living Magazine
One to Watch: This Victoria Designer Is Bringing Built-In Sound Systems Back
8 Homes with Built-in Coffee Stations
Inside Vancouver’s First “Try Before You Buy” Condo Program at ACE
6 Fresh and Flavourful Shellfish Dishes to Make This Summer
Recipe: Bourbon Baby Back Ribs with Forty Creek Whisky BBQ Glaze
The Wine List: 6 Father’s Day Bottles for Every Kind of Dad
Where Luxury Meets Landscape: An EV Drive to Porteau Cove
Mushrooms, Cider and Studio Crawls: A Creative Sunshine Coast Escape
A Laidback Mayne Island Getaway Guide for Slowing Down
These Designer Dads Share What They Really Want For Father’s Day
In Living Colour: Glacier Blue
10 Stylish Home Finds We’re Loving for Summer 2026
WL Designers of the Year 2026: Meet our Landscape Design Judges
WL Designers of the Year 2026: Meet the Judges for Our Maker Category!
WL Designers of the Year 2026: Meet the Industrial Design Judges
Sponsored Content
He has a dream to sell for $5,200,000 and he's gone all out in the staging to get 'er done!
Hi everyone! I’m Jimmy, a newish (2011) home in Vancouver’s nice(ish) neighbourhood of Arbutus. I may be on a standard(ish) 50-by-122-foot lot, but I have a dream. And that dream is to sell for $5,200,000.Sure, it’s not going to be easy, but I’ve gone all out to make someone fall in love with me. For example, I’ve got one of those new flat screen TVs—you know, the kind that some people actually mount on the wall and bother to hide the wires. Busybodies!And for your convenience I’ve placed my dining room table in the living room so you can eat a lovely roast beef dinner and relax with minimal movement (unless you choose the seats jammed against the wall—in that case you get to shimmy down and limbo a bit to get free!). Games are fun!And if you don’t want to eat at the dining room table, don’t worry. I have a second table, near the kitchen where six people can dine in a space designed for 14!And I saw you looking at my kitchen. I bet you never dreamed that for 11 times the price of an average-priced Canadian house you’d get a single wall oven…or a hood fan that looks like it was salvaged from a 1950s Soviet submarine.Upstairs I’ll introduce you to a world that you’ve never seen. A place where bedrooms are simultaneously ornate and oddly minimalist.But if that clutter makes you nervous, don’t worry. Downstairs is waiting for your ideas……and more ideas.As long as you keep those two completely random pieces of furniture in each room. They’re special to me.As for outside, what what can I say? Do you know the name Cornelia Oberlander? So did the three guys who dropped all this sod in an unrelenting straight line!Phew! That was a lot of talking, but I have to say I may have even convinced myself. Really, wouldn’t you rather have me than this crummy place in France? And only have $2,000,000 left over to mow its 44 acres and decorate its 10 bedrooms?I thought so.
Neal McLennan is the wine and spirits editor for Vancouver and Western Living magazines, where he susses out the wonderful (and occasionally weird) options for imbibing across Western Canada.
Are you over 18 years of age?
Get the latest headlines delivered to your inbox 3 times a week.