Home tour | A revamped North Vancouver house

I’m heading across the Atlantic for my latest home-tour post – a beautiful Canadian abode which fuses industrial and rustic styles to stunning effect.

Located in North Vancouver, this 1950s house has been completely transformed by architects Scott & Scott. The owners, two history professors, were keen to create a bright, contemporary home without erasing traces of the building’s past. They also wanted to form a connection between the house and its setting – a patch of forest at the base of Grouse Mountain.

The original configuration of the interior was left largely unchanged, but it was stripped back to its structural shell before being revamped with natural, sustainable materials which will wear beautifully over time. The walls were covered in lime plaster, the ceilings in wooden cladding, and beams made from lye-washed douglas fir were installed. The enclosed stairs were also replaced with an open-tread steel and timber staircase, allowing light from the large windows to flow through the house.

The living area is now one large open-plan space, with a scattering of minimalist, mid-century furniture. Two huge plywood cabinets act as dividers, creating defined living, dining and hallway areas while also providing plenty of concealed storage. The lack of embellishments ensures the focus remains on the beautiful bones of the house, as well as the trees outside, though snuggly sheepskins and woven hangings add lovely touches of cosiness.

I particularly love the clean lines in the kitchen, whose units were crafted from solid ash. Open shelves provide a way to display the owners’ collection of studio pottery, and there’s a wonderful contrast between the grain of the timber and the polished concrete floor. Perhaps most eye-catching, though, are the worktop and sink, which were carved from a single 800kg slab of marble from Vancouver Island – getting it on site must have required a lot of effort!

Photography by Scott & Scott, via Selectism