This Vancouver Mullet House, Listed for $7M, Hides Three Luminous Levels and a Large Yard
Roger and Cynthia Lui knew they wanted a spacious, open-plan house when they purchased an asbestos-laden teardown in Vancouver’s Dunbar neighborhood in 2013. What they didn’t know was that, according to local zoning laws, the street-facing facade of their new residence would have to be consistent with the neighboring elevations on each side of their home.
The City of Vancouver’s RS-5 zoning regulations state that the street-facing facades of new homes must be consistent with neighboring elevations. Canadian firm D'Arcy Jones Architects embraced this restraint when designing the Mullet House for Roger and Cynthia Lui in 2015.
Roger and Cynthia searched for a Vancouver architect who would understand their needs for the project and eventually hired Canadian practice D’Arcy Jones Architects to design and build them a custom home. The couple liked that the firm’s eponymous founding principal wasn’t deterred by the city’s restrictions.
"They saw us as partners in this project," Roger says. "Other firms seemed more determined to design a building on their terms." At the rear of the home, floor-to-ceiling glass doors connect the kitchen, dining, and living room to a poured-concrete patio with a barbecue and a large yard.
Completed in 2015, the 4,850-square-foot home comprises three levels with Douglas fir windows, cedar shake shingles, and brick and concrete walls. Below the twin-gable roofline, a two-car garage and spacious mudroom sit parallel to the front entrance, where a small porch and foyer expand into a marvelously open main floor. Here, a light-filled kitchen, living, and dining area looks out onto an expansive backyard through floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors. A concrete patio with a barbecue offers additional space for outdoor gatherings, while an apple tree from the previous owners shades one corner of the lawn.
The front entrance reveals a light-filled living room with poured concrete walls and engineered hardwood floors.
Mindful that Roger and Cynthia planned to have two—possibly three— children, the firm created a floating staircase with shallow steps that would be easy for toddlers to navigate. Steel cables and a stainless-steel bannister add a measure of safety, should missteps occur. Upstairs, the children’s bedrooms are set on one side of a spacious office or play area, with no doors separating the three sleeping areas. On the other side of the central office, the principal bedroom includes an en suite bath and a private balcony overlooking the yard.
A skylight on the upper level further illuminates the living spaces on the main floor.
Built-in kitchen cabinets and appliances maximize roominess on the main floor.
The upstairs office sits between the principal bedroom and the children’s rooms. Robert Rauschenberg’s Cardbird III decorates the wall above the built-in desk; the artwork is on loan from Vancouver’s Monte Clark Gallery for the Mullet House staging.
Due to Covid restrictions in Canada, listing agency West Coast Modern is hosting private tours of the Mullet House that can be reserved online. Vancouver’s Monte Clark Gallery loaned West Coast Modern three contemporary artworks by Douglas Coupland, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol to help stage the home. "There’s a clear parallel in the works of Jones, Warhol, Rauschenberg, and Coupland—that is sensitivity to the everyday, the built environment," says agent Trent Rodney.
Monte Clark Gallery loaned West Coast Modern three contemporary artworks to help stage the Mullet House. Canadian artist Douglas Coupland’s Tide (2000) is pictured above.
A below-grade level features large windows that look out onto landscaped rocks and vegetation.
Below the main-floor kitchen, living, and dining area, the basement of the Mullet House includes an additional kitchen and recreation room, as well as a small bedroom and extra storage.
3329 West 42nd Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia, is currently listed for $8,988,000 CAD (roughly $7,055,777 USD) by Jason Choi PREC and Trent Rodney of West Coast Modern.
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