The original West Coast modern home is for sale in West Vancouver

Article by John Mackie in The Vancouver Sun

The Binning House is critically important to Canadian architectural history.

“It’s the first West Coast modern house,” says heritage expert Don Luxton. “The DNA of West Coast

Remarkably, the house in West Vancouver is pretty much the same as when it was built, save for a modern kitchen and bathrooms. After a multi-year restoration, it has gone up for sale for $5.25 million.

Located on Mathers Crescent near Dundarave, it was built in 1941-42, just after the Lions Gate Bridge opened.

Bertram Charles Binning was an artist who paid the bills by teaching art at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University) and later at the University of B.C.

In consultation with architects Ned Pratt and Bob Berwick, Binning designed his own house, a bold experiment with a flat roof, an open design, and a two-tiered floor plan.

The south wall is virtually all glass with a foyer designed to be a gallery for Binning’s art, and the house was seamlessly integrated into the landscape.

The current owner is Jesse Saniuk, a realtor who admits he originally bought it for the location in Altamont, one of West Vancouver’s elite neighbourhoods.

“I was a collector of modern sculpture, and I’m in the real estate business. So this house sort of connected my interests — art, architecture, and real estate,” said Saniuk.

He loves the design, which has all sorts of built-ins, from a giant river rock fireplace to more subtle features. The living room ceiling slowly ascends from north to south, for example, going from eight-and-a-half to nine feet. The ceiling in the foyer is probably 12 feet.

“There’s no right angle anywhere in the house,” he notes, pointing to where the walls meet. “The corner is not a right angle. … This corner is not a right angle.”

The imaginative design makes the house seem bigger.

“Essentially, it’s a small house, 1,650 square feet,” he said. “But we have grandeur when you walk in, with high ceilings, and you have a big open living space. So you have a very modern living (space), sort of equivalent to the layout of a 2,000-sq.-ft. condo.”

Bertram Charles (B.C.) Binning was known for his murals, and there are three in the house, one at the entrance, one in the foyer, and one between his bedroom and studio.

Saniuk hired art conservator Cheryle Harrison to restore them, including one in Binning’s old studio/bedroom that had been covered up.

“There was a picture that showed the room, and it showed a little corner that (hinted) there was something here,” said Saniuk.

“So I thought it was worthwhile to have her investigate. She removed the wallpaper, she removed two layers (of paint), and she got this amazing (mural) under it. It’s a similar pattern to one at one of the art galleries, maybe the National Gallery.”