s a teenager in 1940s Calgary, Arthur Mudry dreamed
of being an aeroplane engineer. But a chance discovery
of a book on Gothic cathedrals caught his imagination,
and changed his career trajectory to architecture.
Perhaps this is why his work embodies a sense of
both the sacred and the ethereal. In the architectural
cathedral that is West Vancouver’s coastal forest, as
one approaches his 1965 Beaton residence from its steep
cliffside entry that descends towards the Pacific waters
of Garrow Bay, the house appears to hover over the
landscape. There’s a feeling that the magnificent home,
at one with its site, could take flight at any moment.
In fact, feats of architectural levitation aside, the
house is in danger of disappearing. West Vancouver,
Canada’s treasure trove of midcentury modernism,
where Arthur Erickson, Ron Thom, Barry Downs,
Fred Hollingsworth and other architects built some of
their most sublime residences, has a rapidly rising real
estate value. Erickson’s Graham House fell victim to
lax preservation laws in 2007. Now other midcentury
gems, such as the BC Binning house, are on deathwatch
in a district where developers often triumph over
heritage advocates.
So it is a rare privilege to spend time with Mudry
revisiting one of his most beloved houses, one that,
after the demise of its original owners last year, is listed
at C$7.9m (£4.6m) – ‘lot value’, says a local developer, »ABOVE, THE LIGHT-FILLED
DOUBLE-HEIGHT LIVING SPACE
RIGHT, A FLOATING
STAIRCASE HOVERS OVER
NATURAL BEDROCK THAT
IS INCORPORATED INTO THE
INTERIOR. SURROUNDING
GREENERY IS SEEN THROUGH
THE SOUTHERN GLAZINGA
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