Designer Jenalee Nordstrom sees something else in these boxy two-storey vintage homes: a perfect “rectangle of opportunity”.

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Ask many Vancouverites what they think of the Vancouver Special, and you’ll likely get a shrug — or worse. But designer Jenalee Nordstrom sees something else in these boxy two-storey vintage homes: a perfect “rectangle of opportunity”.

On a recent renovation, Nordstrom set out to rehabilitate not just the house, but the image of these structures, which went up across the city by the thousands from the 1960s to the ’80s.

“I wanted to change people’s understanding of what these homes can truly be,” says Nordstrom, principal designer and CEO of Vancouver design-build firm Schédio Spaces.

“People really don’t think of them as architecturally significant, but I think they are. They changed the landscape of the city in a major way.”

For decades, they weren’t exactly desirable, though. Dismissed by many as eyesores, they were leftovers of a time when owners were free to chase square footage, and the city didn’t mind cosy proximity to property lines. The blocky architecture was partly cost-driven: two stacked boxes and a shallow roof were simple and affordable to build. Ornate Mediterranean details — arches, stucco, iron railings, red roof tiles, decorative columns — were optional but encouraged, it seems.

In recent years, however, some buyers have caught on to how roomy these homes are — and how solid. The package appealed to Nordstrom’s clients: a corporate lawyer and a pediatric lung specialist from Ontario who were planning a move west.

Before they purchased a home, they came to Schédio for help pinpointing the right space to renovate. They wanted something “very West Coast” and “very Vancouver,” Nordstrom says. After touring dozens of properties together, they landed on a partially gutted 2,710-square-foot Vancouver Special on the city’s east side.

Schédio’s team stripped the structure back to its Douglas fir skeleton, retaining the oversized footprint, but raising the roof with scissor trusses to allow for nearly 16-foot ceilings on the second floor. “We reused over 90 per cent of the wood from the original framing in our new framing, and even in some of the structures behind the millwork,” Nordstrom says.

When it came to style, the family trusted Nordstrom to capture their offbeat personality. This would be a long-term home, so they felt free to make bold choices and not stress about resale. “A couple of times they were like, ‘I feel like you’re holding back. You can go further’,” recalls Nordstrom. “Very rarely do people say that …”

“They’re both highly professional individuals, but also very light spirited,” she adds. “They were open to having some fun and playing and not worried about what people would think.”

“Sophisti-quirk” is her nickname for the final blend of polish and playfulness.

This willingness to experiment started underfoot, with cork flooring throughout. “They didn’t bat an eyelash at that. They wanted something that was sustainable, and that felt soft and warm under the foot,” she says.

In the colourful, ‘70s-inspired kitchen, the biggest swing was stonework: Brazilian Blue Mare quartzite — with large rust-coloured striations that look like brush strokes — which wraps a hood fan, backsplash and curved custom island base.

The island curves into a fin-like form on one side, loosely inspired by the shape of a guitar, a tribute to the family’s love of playing music together, Nordstrom says.

Textured terra cotta cabinetry plays off the earth tones, while suspended open shelving sets off the space from an adjacent lounge.

For the dining room, Nordstrom designed a long custom concrete-topped table with a leaf for entertaining. But the spotlight here is a bright chartreuse piano, which she sourced, colour-coated and gave to the family as a surprise gift. She’d planned it from one of their earliest conversations: “Emily, the wife, was saying she dreamed of having a piano in their home,” she recalls. “This piano was made in Ontario, in a town right next to where they grew up.”

A living room at the front of the home picks up the same dramatic quartzite as the kitchen. Here, it forms a long bench-style slab extending from a linear gas fireplace, swapped for the traditional wood-burner.

At the back of the home, the construction team made structural reinforcements to add a wall of windows, with a peak that traces the home’s roofline.

Perhaps the most “sophisti-quirk” feature of all is in front of these windows: hammocks built into the floor. Webbing stretches across two openings, allowing sunlight to filter down to a lounge and music room below. The family of four reads and lounges here, Nordstrom says, and the kids play on the netting. “They’ve even had sleepovers there.”

Two and a half years after the family moved into the home, the renovation continues to settle into its role. Nordstrom is now preparing a second phase that will add a pantry and evolve the children’s spaces, among other updates.

It feels in keeping with the earlier work: finding new possibilities within a familiar form, Nordstrom says. “That’s one of the beauties of the Vancouver Special.”

Project design & construction: Schédio Spaces