West Vancouver Lewis mid-century home rental. image Stacy Reynaud
I took a look at this rental house on Friday.
I was excited to view it (as were six or seven others) because it was noted on the West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture. It's a Lewis home built in the mid-50s.
Unfortunately, there was a For Sale sign out front when I arrived.
In West Vancouver, a For Sale sign translates to, 'You need to tear this house down because it's not big enough to show other people that you think you're rich and therefore really important.'
A For Sale sign usually means the house is vacant as well.
By the state this one is in, it has probably been so for at least a year.
Dandelions were growing out of the hot tub cover, Lynyrd Skynard and Van Halen spray painted on the walls of the 'den,' the living room carpet squished water out of it when I walked, the bathrooms were straight out of Trainspotting, and it stunk like raccoons had been living in it.
All this for $2300 a month.
I feel like dropping a note to the realtor who showed it, giving him a piece of my mind.
On Saturday, I took a look at this haunted house. It's located right across from Dundarave Beach.
It had a self-contained 'suite' downstairs, which would've been perfect as one of our fellow apartment building dwellers is interested in leaving the building with us if we can find the right place.
Gross, not this one.
The first floor was workable, although the kitchen cupboards had 74 years of grime.
The other two, however, oh, my cat.
Let's just say if I was in university again (i.e. I was 19), had ten friends, lots of incense and hippie blankets, no lovable fluffy senior cat members in my family and only a backpack of possessions, I'd be moving in this week.
So, for $3500 a month, I'll have to decline as I've already been down that Nag Champa road.
West Vancouver Seawall. Image Stacy Reynaud
What makes 'landlords' think that because you're a renter, you automatically have low standards and aren't worthy of a clean, safe home?
I love architecture and would love to live in a home that I could proudly point out and explain its architectural significance.
It's a shame so many sit vacant and uncared for when there are probably 100s of people in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland who feel the same way I do.
West Vancouver Mid-Century Lewis Home. Image Stacy Reynaud
I posted some photos of some North Vancouver West Coast midcentury homes we visited last summer on the Bijou Living Facebook page.
