The Starship House, designed by Arthur Erickson and built in 1968.Conrad Brown/Handout
6028 Eagleridge Drive, West Vancouver, B.C.
Asking price: $4.498-million (January, 2022)
Selling price: $4.3-million (May, 2022)
Previous selling price: $1.885-million (2014)
Days on market: 108
Taxes: $6,456.48
Listing agent: Trent Rodney, West Coast Modern
The action
The sellers, fans of Arthur Erickson’s work, had purchased the house in 2014, for $1.885-million. They sold because they were relocating out of the city. Listing agent Trent Rodney received several offers. Long-time Erickson fans from out-of-province made the winning offer. They plan to do sensitive updates to the kitchen and bathrooms.
“They are fully educated about Erickson’s vision and plans, and they get it,” Mr. Rodney said. “They are going to bring it up to his original vision. The hard work has already been done.”
The sale completes July 28.
What they got
It’s considered one of Erickson’s most stunning designs. Built circa 1968 when Erickson’s career was garnering international attention, the house raised a few eyebrows in the West Vancouver neighbourhood at the time.
It is an ode to its mountainside location, with its angular roofline and complete cedar cladding. Even the wood fireplace is angled like a mountaintop. The realtor named it the Starship House because neighbours said it looked like a spaceship had landed.
The 2,434 square-foot, two-level, post-and-beam house has four bedrooms and two full bathrooms. It was sensitively updated in recent years, with new roof, new windows and building envelope.
Conrad Brown/Handout
Conrad Brown/Handout
The house is an ode to its mountainside location, with its angular roofline and complete cedar cladding.Conrad Brown/Handout
The agent’s take
Many heritage houses like Erickson’s have been lost to speculative buyers who could build a new 7,000 square foot house instead. Two West Coast Modern houses have been torn down this year.
“This is a specific buyer. We hunted for months … people thought we were crazy. There was a West Coast Modern three doors down sold for $3.5-million. So people are like, ‘you are asking $4.5-million? And then it’s just sitting there, on the market for four months. But we pushed hard. It was in Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, Dwell magazine, everywhere. When you are asking for a premium, people sit on the sidelines, they think, ‘maybe it will come down.’ And we refused to.”
Your house is your most valuable asset. We have a weekly Real Estate newsletter to help you stay on top of news on the housing market, mortgages, the latest closings and more. Sign up today.
Kerry Gold