BIJOU LIVING: architecture

Jul 17, 2026

B.C. Binning Residence - Canada's Original West Coast Modern Built 1941

The Binning Residence built 1941 © Stacy Reynaud

Originally published in 2010 with additional commentary in 2013 regarding the sale of the BC Binning Residence by The Land Conservancy (TLC).

All photos © Stacy Reynaud

Residence from the road. Summer 2010

built of concrete, cedar and drywall in 1941

Terraced backyard built into the slope.

Summer 2010 © Stacy Reynaud

Designed with help of BC mid-century architect Ned Pratt

©Stacy Reynaud

B.C. Binning Residence

Original address plate ©Stacy Reynaud

Interior murals by Binning © Stacy Reynaud

Binning mural at the end of the main hall. Washroom to the left. BC Binning's bedroom and studio to the right up a small flight of stairs. ©Stacy Reynaud

Living room with original built-ins and mid-century furniture. © Stacy Reynaud

Open concept mid-century style. Terraced backyard built into slope. View of ocean.

View from the back yard and Mrs. Binning's bedroom.

Local river stone fireplace. ©Stacy Reynaud

Mrs Binning passed away in the home in 2007 at age 101.

She bequeathed the home to the TLC.

The TLC sold the home a few years later for just over $2M.

There were many court battles.

Some of which were covered here on Bijou Living.

Links above or view more West Coast Modern architecture posts under Architecture

These photos are all from a tour I did of the home in Summer 2010. ©Stacy Reynaud

The Binning Residence and the original furniture and art. Summer 2010 © Stacy Reynaud

Original floor, Binning hall mural, BC ceramics by Wayne Ngan & Thomas Kakinuma.

The Binning's were avid collectors. Where'd the collection end up? © Stacy Reynaud

Exterior view into the West facing kitchen.

West Kitchen window. © Stacy Reynaud

Original cupboards sourced from BC wood. © Stacy Reynaud

Original kitchenware. © Stacy Reynaud

Binning Residence Backyard Summer 2010.

River stone from interior wall carries on to the exterior.

West Vancouver ©Stacy Reynaud

Living room seating area with wood burning fireplace. Perfection. Binning Residence © Stacy Reynaud

Danish modern dining room table and chairs.

Wood kitchen cabinets visible to the right. © Stacy Reynaud

Washroom beside Binning mural. Binning's bedroom to the right. © Stacy Reynaud

The Binning's frequently travelled to Japan and their collections remained on display.

Lots of MCM teak furniture.

Collectables from the Binnings' travels. © Stacy Reynaud

View from the hallway. © Stacy Reynaud

Mrs. Binning's calendar from May 2007.

Mrs Vincent Massey was one of the last people to see Mrs. Binning.

She came for a visit along with two others May 25, 2007.

She passed away in the home the same day.

To honour Mrs. Binning, the calendar remained open to the day she died.

The entire home and its contents were bequeathed to the TLC.

I have no idea where the contents went after the sale of the home in 2015.

Tragic.

Hans Wegner © Stacy Reynaud

One washroom in the home.

Bright yellow tiling.

Gorgeous.

Original local cedar.

Mrs. Binning's room where she passed.

View to the backyard and ocean.

Cedar walls. Built in bed.

©Stacy Reynaud

Three steps up to Mr. Binning's room. Directly across the hall from Mrs. Binning.

Mr. Binning's dresser, storage and golf clubs.

Mr Binning's studio was adjoined to his bedroom. The left (North) window is the front of the house viewable from the road. Notice the West facing windows at the top. The hallway is to the right. Also high windows. The 'window' in the hall is the opaque window in the living room seating area.

Mr. Binning's bedroom to the far right. High windows let just the right amount of light into his studio.

Mr. Binning's studio is on the other side of the high windows.

Exterior mural by Mr. Binning.

Work that was underway. Where did it end up?

Built in corner nook with collectables from their frequent travels to Japan. Photo of Mrs. Binning pinned to the wall. Where did it go? © Stacy Reynaud

Mr. Binning's desk drawer. FIRST CLASS MALE stamp. Where'd it go?

JESSIE AND B.C. BINNING

Apr 30, 2016

check check one

Please come visit me on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and Etsy.

April 2016 - In French they say, 'Je suis fatigué'. Fatigué is a good word to describe the state of my inspiration over the past year - or in English, fatigued. My inspiration feels frightened. An inspiration that needs to be coaxed out of hiding and tenderly guided into the dawn of a new land.

I'm just getting revved up. I'll be in LA for the month of May hangin' with my cousin's cat Wes. Taking the PCH down from San Francisco and chillin' the heck out. Lunch reservations at Chez Panisse, helping out a friend at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, night viewing of the Stahl Residence, and dropping by my old Alma Mater the Pickwick Vintage Show on May 29th - stoked about that - I can shop it this time, (for crazy lady in Vancouver clothes).

Here's a checklist of what I've been pondering as of late:

Fashion - the elderly Chinese ladies of Vancouver (per usual), Incredible String Band, and a smidgen of Hole (MTV Awards 1995). Hey, I've met quite a few guys in Vancouver lately with great style. There's Jacob over at Nordstrom (near the Chloe bags), Nigel at Gravity Pope and Mohammed who was at Gravity Pope but is now at Blanche MacDonald. If you're into men's street style go check out the kids hanging out on their 10:30 smoke break in front of BCIT downtown then watch them drive off in their Maseratis and Bentleys at 3:30.

Architecture - There have been 787 demolition permits issued in the District of West Vancouver since 2010 - 174 in 2015 alone (population of West Van is 43,000). You know I left West Van in 2014 - or was it 2015? I left because I was frustrated by the mowing down of all the West Coast Modern homes. Well, turns out the District has voted unanimously to curb the size of McMansions. Here are the minutes of the meeting from December 2015. Too little too late in my opinion. The City of Vancouver issued 267 demolition permits in the first three months of 2016. If Mayor Gregor Robertson is tooting the greenest city horn - let's challenge him on the effect of the demolition cycle on landfills. I lived in Pt. Grey for six months (story in my next post). It was like a ghost town - no community, no neighbours hanging out in their yards shooting the shit, no cats rolling on the sidewalk, no sound of children playing in their yards. I moved eight blocks East and what a change! I was walking down Second last night and a group of people were having a glass of wine - they invited me to join them - I did!

That being said how long do you think this house two blocks over from me is going to sit vacant?

My friend @bijouliving has the raddest apartment. This sunroom is a dream. 😍 #apartmenttherapy #decor #bohemian #indoorplants #decorinspiration #personalstyle #70s #sunroom #designideas #designsponge #vancouver #vancouverbc

A photo posted by Dana Landon (@itsmydarlin) on Apr 27, 2016 at 7:11am PDT

Interiors - I moved again in February - four times in one year.

Music - I have some playlists up on YouTube if you want to check out what I've been listening to. Electric Moon, JJUUJJU, Federale, Moon Duo, A Place to Bury Strangers, Roy Harper, Bridget St. John, Magic Carpet and of course classical Indian music.

image via coding horror

Personal - Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books from our childhood? I'll leave my adventure to you. Perhaps you've been following my other pages, perhaps you know my real adventure or perhaps I'm living vicariously through one you've chosen. Whichever - know this - everyone deserves a love story.

Design - I was contacted by the family of Thomas Kakinuma - the midcentury BC ceramicist that I've written about. They'd read a blog post I did and wanted to gift me a piece of his work. I went to their beautiful home and what's transpired is a wonderful friendship and a possible show at the UBC Museum of Anthropology (two year curation time but we're working on a small show in a different venue). You can see some of the images of his works I was able to photograph at his home posted over on my Facebook page.

Random - I've been so deeply moved by all the spiritually profound stolen images defaced with free hand font floating around my feeds. Please read this journal article On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit.

Thanks for sticking around - I really value your readership!