01:00 PM - 05:00 PM
About the event
Back for its 9th year, the Vancouver Special House Tour offers a chance to get inside 5 examples of the now iconic housing style unique to Vancouver. With it’s basic floor plan and simple construction, the Vancouver Special is ideal for creative solutions and inventive ideas. This tour serves as a showcase for how older housing styles can be transformed for modern living. Among the homes on tour this year are a 1975 Special updated by one of the pioneers of Special revitalization, Architect Stephanie Robb. The new design artfully blends memory with modern aesthetics that suit the new owners. We also have a 1970s era Special with a dramatic new renovation that includes a showstopping built-in wrap-around wood dining area that plays off the cedar ceiling. Often utilized for multi-generational living, or as income helpers, the possibilities for two full floors of living space are nearly endless. On this tour, ticket holders will get to see the multitude of ways homeowners have chosen to personalize and adapt these family homes from the middle decades. Learn about how to improve energy efficiency, speak to owners and experts in construction and materials about their own projects and come away with great ideas for retaining and reusing older housing.