A stunning view of the Vancouver marina, the North Shore mountains and downtown are just a taste of the upsides of living in this drifting home. Owners Doug McClelland and Anthony Tucker plopped their newly built floating home in Coal Harbour Marina in Vancouver, British Columbia. This harbor is considered among the finest in North America, and is filled with gorgeous yachts of the rich and famous.
The sleek modern layout stands out as the newest floating home built in this harbor. McClelland and Tucker made sure that their home was filled with light and windows and built in roof deck to benefit from their 360-degree view. “Our favourite thing about our home is that it moves,” says McClelland. “The subtle motion makes it feel like a living thing. You feel on the water .”
All furniture in this home provided for staging by Tracey Mills from Dekora.
The exterior of the home is clad in a clean cedar with a transparent coat finish to highlight its natural colour. Contrasting corrugated steel was set up on the opposite side of the exterior as an homage to the older boat sheds that used to line Marina Harbour Marina. McClelland utilized a shiny mirror finish on the steel instead of the grey that is generally used on boat sheds.
The marine engineering was the toughest part of this home’s construction. Beneath the house is an 8-foot deep flotation barge made from concrete and full of styrofoam. “It was fairly tricky for its engineers and the architects to match everything we needed and wanted into a 20′ x 45′ footprint, while still maintaining the home floating and stable levelly,” McClelland says.
Since it had to fit inside a certain footprint, the home itself has an extremely compact layout. The couple had to get creative with their layout and arrange their living spaces in one great space. “If I could change 1 thing about this home, I’d want just a little more square feet,” says McClelland.
The lightest available color of bamboo flooring is a eco friendly choice that can help maintain the small space feel open and bright.
In the kitchen, they made a decision to mount a JennAir down-draft enthusiast behind the cooktop instead of performing a full hood. “We actually wanted the cooktop facing the window, but we didn’t wish a traditional fan hanging over it,” says McClelland. The down-draft fan climbs from the counter and outputs exhaust below the counter.
White granite countertops, a glass subway tile backsplash, and light maple cabinets from IKEA all contribute to the open feeling of the major living room. Steel pendants from Robinson Lighting work well with the stainless steel appliances. Tucker and McClelland chose an extra-tall Blomberg fridge in a counter depth for their restricted distance.
Light pours through curved windows throughout the home, paying homage to the house’s nautical locations. Natural Linen from Benjamin Moore was painted on the walls, and unites with the sunlight to make this small office feel larger.
The master bedroom is”cozy, but in addition, it feels open to the outside due to all of the glass,” McClelland says. “It’s wonderful to cocoon in.”
This bedroom has two glass walls to benefit of the gorgeous view. One of these walls is composed of two sliding glass doors that access a small balcony.
The master bathroom sticks to the exact same light, bright and white palette as the rest of the home. White marble tiles line the floor, along with the counter is made of the exact same white granite because the kitchen. The window presents the northern view of the neighboring hills, while a skylight allows in additional natural light.
The smaller guest bedroom has windows that face in two directions, to get a view of the hills and the marina. McClelland and Tucker had off-white Berber carpeting using an extra-thick underlay installed in this bedroom and the master bedroom.
The sunny roof deck is McClelland’s absolute favourite part of this home. “From there, you may see the entire marina,” he states. “You feel like you’re right in the middle of the view, instead of simply looking out at the view.”
This stunning floating home is your first new floating home in Vancouver in 15 years. All the additional floating homes that have been built since then are upriver in suburban areas. It’s also only among 18 floating homes in Vancouver, and one of 6 in Coal Harbour Marina.
Vancouver was home to many of these floating homes since the early 19th century, when they were not anything more than log cabins on log floats.
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