Big Fat Deal: $5.8 million for a beachside house in downtown Vancouver

Each week, BCBusiness takes you inside one of the most outrageously upmarket real estate offerings in the province

Address: 1550 Harwood Street, Vancouver
Price: $5,858,000
MLS: R2017420
 
The skinny: Four-bedroom, three-bathroom, 3,627-square-foot house in Vancouver’s West End.
 
The bling: Beach, beach, baby! You want to live close to the ocean, walk to downtown, tend your garden and live an old-fashioned quiet seaside life, right? Then this one is (almost) for you. Yes, this is a single-family home and, at almost a hundred years old, it comes fully loaded with heritage and history. But the owner of this abode will need to be something of an individualist, a groover against the grain, a flier in the face of modern urban living… in short, a person happy to live, Stuart Little-like, behind the last façade of a bygone era. For this house—though hardly bijou—is butted on all sides by concrete giants, density and condo-dwelling dogs. It is the exception to the development rule, the corporeal manifestation of resistance, a carbuncle on the heel of progress. There is no wine cellar, media room or white marble floor chiselled from the chins of Greek gods. This is simply a well-cared-for home, lived in and loved, with a modest deck from which (if you have your specs on) there remains a sea view. A ridiculous prospect for one as well-to-do as you? Can’t imagine sticking out like such a sore thumb? Slumming doesn’t even begin to cover it? Never fear: the land is zoned for multifamily use. Bring on the wrecking ball and let the building begin.
 
The hidden extras: Nothing fancy going on here, just the opportunity to live steps from the beach, the seawall and Vancouver’s crown jewel, Stanley Park.