HOT PROPERTIES By Carolyn Heiman photography by Szymon Szymczakowski
Ucluelet meets Europe: A family home for life
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hen Maren Carson learned that the next house she would design with her builder husband would be finally theirs she spent a lot of time thinking about how to make it the home they would stay in for the rest of their life. The young German-born woman has embraced her Canadian life in Ucluelet, even suppressing complaints while living with her husband-to-be for a period in a cabin without running water. But for her family home, she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her parents and many other Europeans. “I don’t want to move around. In Germany you build, move in, and stay. That’s a family home.” As she speaks about the vision for her home, now called
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the Rainforest House, there is no talk about skylights, countertops, flooring or plumbing fixtures. Instead it’s all about the place her pre-school sons will romp in as they grow to teenagers. It will be where they hang out with friends and bring girlfriends. The kitchen is where Christmas meals will be happily prepared by multi-generations of family. Maren’s guiding principles of what she really wanted kept her on track both in terms overall look and feel. Features seen in rambling North American homes are absent. There’s no family room, gym or media room. It does not have more bathrooms than people living in it. The overall effect of this restraint is a 2,995-square-foot home that feels considerably more spacious because hallways,