House Tours

House tour: Seaside sophistication

House tour: Seaside sophistication

You'll love this fully furnished seaside escape. Author: Tracey Ayton

House Tours

House tour: Seaside sophistication

A Vancouver-based design and renovation firm turns the tide on a fussily furnished seaside house, re-envisioning it as an inviting, livable retreat with crisp colours and ship-shape style.

From the outside, this West Vancouver beach house has it all. Poised among the breathtaking North Shore Mountains on almost an acre of waterfront property, with nary a neighbour in sight, its position 100 feet above sea level provides it with optimal views of the ocean - a real-life Arcadia just 20 minutes from downtown. Its pre-makeover interior, however, presented a different tableau. "It was pink with overstuffed furniture and Persian rugs everywhere. It didn't feel like a beach house or reflect its amazing setting," says Dave Leavitt, general manager of Vancouver's Fox Design Studio.

Dave and his team of designers - brother Ben Leavitt and friend Andrew Harvey - were tasked with transforming the 7,000-square-foot space into a comfortable weekend retreat. 

Since its architectural bones (hardwood floors, generously proportioned light-filled rooms and custom mouldings and built-ins) required no reshaping, the four-month revamp was strictly cosmetic, although it was anything but small.

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House tour: Seaside sophistication

Family room

"The family room is all about the stone fireplace and the driftwood coffee table," says Dave Leavitt, general manager of Fox Design Studio. "They share an organic sensibility that brings the beauty of the landscape in and represents the tranquility of the beach and all of its colours."

Image by: Style at Home By: Christy Wright Source: Tracey Ayton

 

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House tour: Seaside sophistication