Michael's room

There is one bedroom available now for Sept or Oct 1 in a 5,500 square foot, 7 bedroom 1912 estate house in West Point Grey.

We are on a 3/4 acre property on top of a hill overlooking the city and ocean — four blocks from Spanish Banks, and steps away from the Pacific Spirit Park trails. It’s a great location: privacy and quiet in a green neighbourhood with easy bus access to the city; the Express 84 bus stop is two stops to UBC and Wreck Beach.

The house is 4 levels with a beautiful covered front porch to sit and watch our resident hummingbirds dart in and out or catch a quiet sunset. There is a large back patio in the shadow of a handsome walnut tree, great for BBQs, garden parties and having a quiet breakfast in the morning. The yard is forested at the back, the feel is wild and natural, and comes with plenty of opportunity for the gardener at heart.

There is room for your vehicle. Covered carport + street parking on a quiet road (no through traffic) without metres.

We’ve worked really hard to restore this beautiful house to its original glory. We have a generous living room with a gas fireplace next to the large dining room. The garden level floor has multiple pantry rooms, a jacuzzi (we haven’t turned it on! Tragic, yes) room with a cedar-panelled double shower, a new washer and dryer as well as a workshop with tables and storage space.

The kitchen has also been outfitted with a new dishwasher, oven, microwave and stove. It’s open and airy, plenty of light, and the centre of activity in our house.

Room for rent:

The balcony room ($750) Hardwood floors, east facing window and south facing balcony doors, the balcony has a view of the garden and the ocean as it wraps around a bit. Great light throughout the day. The walls have white coloured painted boards… feels like a mix of a cabin and art gallery. The room comes unfurnished.

The upstairs bathroom has a quaint and peaceful view of the garden.

Internet and utilities are not included in the rent. We split the costs along with expenses for some shared household items. Bills this year when it was split by 6 in the winter was about 75 bucks, has come down to roughly around 50 in the summer.

Because this is an older home, we enjoy and accept its character, including its drawbacks: razor-thin walls — sound travels easily in this house. We’ve developed some strategies to minimize noise, but an innocent shuffle in one room can be heard two floors up sometimes. Just a note of caution for light sleepers or those easily disturbed by footsteps and clanging of pots in the kitchen.

Who are we?

1. Andrei is a neuroscientist who loves nature and biking. He’s quite handy and is into photography. Quarantine upped the ante on his baking skills. He’s funny…humour does lean a bit dark.

2. Jon is an electrician by trade, but would be on his boat all the time if he had his way. He also loves to be on his bike. He’s creative and intellectually curious, an old soul.

3. Verona is a therapist trained in Eastern and Ayurvedic medicine, Reiki energy healing and massage. Quirky, warm and immensely supportive, she loves gardening and loves her cat, Lint, dearly.

4. Michael is a creative goofball…fiddles when he can. Next project is setting up studio space to make work. He manages a restaurant in Gastown.

*Update, Sept 1: +2 new roommates 5) Hadrien is a motion graphics designer and illustrator. Adventurous, active, likes to cook. Speaks French and Spanish.

6. Paul is a PhD student in Physics. Fixes bikes, spends his weekends in the mountains if he can. Also bilingual.