Canada's 'most important architectural home' listed for $5.2M in West Vancouver

Article by Brent Richter in The North Shore News

The most architecturally significant home on the North Shore – and all of Canada for that matter – is listed for sale.

West Vancouver’s Binning House is on the market for $5.25 million. It was the home of artist and architect B.C. Binning and is considered the earliest example of West Coast Modernism.

The 85-year-old two-bedroom, 2,200-square-foot house sits on a 12,800-square-foot lot overlooking the ocean on Altamont’s Mathers Crescent.

Its highest value may be the bragging rights its future owner will have. The listing boasts that it is Canada’s only privately-owned National Historic Site.

The West Coast Modern movement born there sought to make buildings fit within their natural environments rather than dominate them. It popularized design elements that remain in use today including floor-to-ceiling windows, flat roofs and open concepts. From the salons he hosted in his living room, Binning inspired other noted artists and architects, including Ron Thom and Arthur Erickson.

Because of its influence on contemporary design, the West Coast Modern League has called the Binning House a “Rosetta Stone” and the most important architectural home in Canada.

“This house represents the first of its kind,” said Steve Gairns, chair of the league. “It’s a revered piece of our West Coast Modern story and it stands as a testament to our region’s design ingenuity and to the creatives who cemented our pivotal role in Canadian art and architecture.”

In its later history, the Binning House has been closely watched by heritage advocates.

After a bitter tug-of-war through the courts, the home was listed for sale in 2015 and purchased by West Vancouver realtor Jesse Saniuk.

At the time, it had been facing years of neglect. Saniuk had the foundation, roof membrane, plaster, plumbing, wiring, windows and doors restored and in 2024 Heritage B.C. recognized him and art conservator Cheryle Harrison with a conservation award for their revival of Binning’s own murals adorning the interior and exterior walls, which took hundreds of hours.

When Saniuk bought the property, it was mainly because he was attracted to the location and ocean view, he said, but the painstaking work to save the Binning House from rot showed him the value heritage advocates see in it.

As a realtor, Saniuk said he too sees Binning’s lasting influence in the design of modernist homes still being constructed today.

“It all comes back to this and there’s some surprising similarities even 80 years apart,” he said.

Saniuk said he is selling the Binning House now because he is ready to move onto another heritage project. Last weekend, he offered the home up for West Coast Modern Week tours.

“I felt good that I was able to show it off and get the feedback from everybody. The feedback was fantastic about the restoration work and even the stuff that I was nervous about,” he said.

The listing however is causing anxiety and disappointment for the Binning House’s supporters, said Gairns. The biggest worry is that it will end up in the hands of someone who may dilute or damage a shared cultural asset by making changes to Binning’s greatest legacy. The property is covered by a heritage designation bylaw that only protects the house from demolition or major structural changes but advocates still worry.

“The historical stature of this house requires that we take extra care with its character and materiality and that we respect the window that it offers into the daring design explorations and the new ideas about modern living that Binning was so instrumental in advocating for,” Gairns said.

Saniuk said it would be his dream for the buyer to be a philanthropist from the art and architecture world who would make it a museum or artist residence or even just a piece of their own private collection.

That might not end up being the case but Saniuk said the buyer will most certainly be someone who understands what the Binning House represents and the work that’s gone into saving it.

“I think that anybody who buys it is going to be buying it because they love what they see that’s already there,” he said.