Evoke: 4669 West 9th Avenue | Photo by Janis Nicolay

I have a confession.  I love looking inside of beautiful homes as I walk or drive by.  Even as a child when I'd be riding in the backseat of my parent's car, a hobby of mine was to look inside homes as we'd drive by to try and see what spaces looked like inside.  And those opportunities don't come up all that often unless you go to real estate open houses, so this weekend is kind of unique here in town with the upcoming Vancouver Modern Home Tour.  

The Vancouver Modern Home Tour is a self-guided driving-tour of seven architecturally progressive and contemporary homes in the Vancouver area that exemplify modern living. Thanks to a handful of generous homeowners, tour goers get the chance to explore the inside and out of some awe-inspiring modern homes, designed by some of Vancouver’s greatest modern architects. Locations stretch from West Vancouver to Kensington-Cedar Cottage and homes vary in size, shape and design.

There are the 7 homes accepted and confirmed for the tour:
•    Check out a unit in an early 20th century condominium building in the heart of Yaletown, completely renovated and updated in 2010 by Falken Reynolds Interiors, transformed into the bachelor pad of every man’s dreams!
•    A modestly-sized new home, built in 2012 by the Environmental Design Group with interiors designed by Project 22 Design Inc., that makes use of connected open spaces to feel twice as big.
•    The eco-conscious Narrow Passive House, built in 2012 by One SEED Architecture + Interiors, which is simple and pure in design, but complex in its ability to take advantage of the Earth’s never-ending capacity to heat, cool, and ventilate, while using materials and building systems which are durable and tread lightly on the environment.
•    The visually impressive Geometric House, also by One SEED Architecture + Interiors (built 2011), that is considered a perfect example of a true west coast modern home with clean lines, open concept planning, natural materials and inside-outside flow.
•    A tremendous 2011 renovation by FNDA Architecture Inc. of a 1960’s wood post and beam house in West Vancouver that offers its residents a new open floor plan, as well as a new level of energy efficient living.
•    A modernist prototype home for Vancouver’s ubiquitous RS-1 zoning district that rethinks the typical zoning regulations and constraints of building in an urban context, designed by Campos Leckie Studio and located in Arbutus Ridge.
•    A wonderfully modern home by Evoke International Design, located in the Point Grey neighbourhood, that uses open planning, a minimal number of single-use rooms and a fluidity of movement from inside to outside to create a larger sense of space, while also presenting a unique façade in its RS-1 District zoning.

Participating homes on the Vancouver Modern Home Tour will open their doors to tour goers from 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM on Saturday, September 14, in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. While the above descriptions tell you some of the details, you have to see the photos to understand better what’s in store —visit the tour’s website at vancouver.modernhometours.com.