Downs House II

Presenting Downs House II, an essential work by Barry Downs, Order of Canada laureate and visionary behind Vancouver’s civic architecture.

His personal West Vancouver residence, recently documented in monograph form, represents a high point of West Coast Modernism where architecture and nature converge. Cedar and glass volumes gracefully trace the site’s topography, cascading elegantly across forest canopy and rocky bluff. Skillfully placed openings weave the home’s interior with the exterior, imbuing its spaces with the luminosity of the surrounding landscape. The journey culminates in a living room that quietly frames majestic views of Georgia Strait, unveiling the vastness of sea and sky.

A rare chance to steward a piece of west coast heritage, Downs House II awaits its next custodian.

6664 Marine Drive
West Vancouver, BC

Neighbourhood
Whytecliff

Designer
Barry Downs

Designed and Built
1979

Price
$4,198,000

Specification
Mid-century Modern

Program
West Coast Modern

Floors
2 level + studio

Rooms
2 bed 2 bath
(main house)
1 bath
(studio)

Building
1,464 sqft
(main house)
570 sqft
(studio)
Lot
23,435 sqft /
0.538 acre

Monograph Brochure

Floor Plan

“We designed houses that pushed up through the trees, that revolved around the idea of the big room, surrounded by the garden, and the view of the changing seasons.”

– Barry Downs, Downs House II: UBC SALA | West Coast Modern Series, 2016

“The dramatic setting, intimate siting and careful regard between exterior and interior spaces are all attributes characteristic of the West Coast Modern idiom... It has been built as a home for the architect and his family and–given this rather unusual relationship–the design of the house has served as a place for invention and experiment.”

– Christopher Macdonald, Downs House II: UBC SALA | West Coast Modern Series, 2016

“A glass-and-wood, post-and-beam pavilion perched atop a West Van rock.”

– City & Country Home, Nov 1988

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“This house is all about metaphoric connections to the sky; the rocky, tree-lined promontory on which it sits; and to the mystifying waters of Howe Sound.”

– Survey exhibition on Barry Downs, “Melding Architecture with Landscape: A Collaboration on Design”, at the West Vancouver Art Museum in 2013

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“Even in a city where beautiful sites abound, the location of the Downs’ house is particularly choice with its lush landscape and sweeping views.”

– Wood World Mag, Vol 8, 1980

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Barry Downs (1930-2022)
One of the Last Giants of West Coast Modernism

Born in Vancouver in 1930, Barry Downs was educated at the School of Architecture at the University of Washington (1950-54) and went on to become one of Vancouver’s most important architects to have emerged from the West Coast Modernist movements. Working at the prestigious Thompson, Berwick & Pratt (TBP) (1954-62) transformed his architectural thinking. Moving away from the austere modernism, which defined his studies, Downs sought a regional architectural idiom that was specific to the Pacific Northwest. Thereafter, his career blossomed into one that left an indelible legacy on both the residential and civic architecture realms of Vancouver. For four years between 1963 and 1967, Downs formed a partnership with Fred

Hollingsworth, producing Massey Medal-winning pieces among a series of unique house designs adapted to each site condition. Downs’ quest to meld building and land as one soon saw him turning to the city at large, when he eventually partnered with Richard Archambault and others to work on civic architecture and planning of monumental scales. Notable works include Canada Place, Yaletown master plan, False Creek master plan, Vancouver Public Library Square and so on. Barry Downs was the subject of a 2013 survey exhibition at the West Vancouver Art Museum called “Melding Architecture with Landscape: A Collaboration in Design”, and was awarded the highest civilian honour, Member of the Order of Canada, in 2014.