Custom Natural Home Builders Vancouver

This clients wanted a custom home built to house their growing family. They required enough space for five people, while having a home that was small enough to afford some premium timber frame interior features. As both the husband and wife are professionals who run their own businesses, the house also needed to accommodate a decent sized office. It was also important that the house be a reasonable size so it was easy to maintain as the owners travel frequently for both work and pleasure.

As the owners often have clients dropping by their home and are gardening fanatics, it was important that the house have beautiful landscaping and stunning gardens.

This home was built using all natural building products and has almost zero VOCs or off gasing. It features a timber frame ceiling and stairs, long lasting metal roof, and hardwood fir flooring throughout.

Interior of Custom Timber Frame Home

The inside of this home features beautiful timber frame ceilings, fir floors and fir windows and door casings throughout. Earth quarried slate, granite, and wool carpeting combine with the timber frame features to give the interior of this house a very natural and relaxing feeling. Within the home a radiant floor heating system provides a very green energy efficient solution for heating. The home also features spacious nine feet ceilings, large 6 feet tall windows, a set of French doors, as well as front and back covered porches to enjoy Vancouver’s wonderfully rainy weather. The open concept design makes it feel far larger than it actually is and it allows the home to be used for entertaining as well as day to day living.

The beams and floor joists of the floor above were left exposed to give this hybrid timber frame home some "wow" factor. Hidden metal connectors were used to connect the joists to the center beam. To complete the natural wood look, the 6 foot tall vinyl windows were cased with matching vertical grain fir moldings. This allows for the beautiful wood look on the inside with the low maintenance of vinyl on the outside.

During construction... This shows the beautiful fir flooring right after installation. Natural 2 X 6, vertical grain, fir flooring was installed overtop of the radiant heating system and then coated with three layers of non-toxic eurothane. You can see the in-floor radiant heating system on the right hand side of this photo. As well, you can see the start of the kitchen cabinet installation.

The upstairs bedrooms also have fir flooring and fir window and door casings in order to provide consistency throughout the house. The master bedroom features a large 3 section window that offers exceptional views of the local mountains. The window in the rear offers beautiful views of blueberry fields. This bedroom also has built in his and hers closets as well as an additional nursery/sitting area with its own lighting.

This second living room photo shows the room and beam work from a different angle. The exposed timer frame beams, floor joists and flooring were covered with a durable, one-coat wood stain in a matte finish. Two additional wall scones were added to compliment the table lamps to ensure the room has enough light. Extra lighting was also installed throughout the home to compensate for the amount of light that natural wood ceilings absorb.

Exterior of Custom Timber Frame Home

The outside of this natural home features warm, cedar beveled siding, fir casings, and a long lasting, durable metal roof. The cedar siding provides a warm and natural look that allows the house to stand out, but still blend in with its surroundings. The metal roof not only lasts 50 or more years, but allows for the collection of clean rainwater for use in gardens. This house also features front and back covered porches to enjoy Vancouver’s wonderfully rainy weather. The soffits on the front porch and dormers, have Japanese style reveals that add an additional feature to the design of the home.

As natural light and fresh air were very important to the clients, this home features an abundance of windows. The clients chose casement style windows that can be opened to catch the wind like a sail and push fresh air throughout the home.

This photo shows the installation of the second floor, 2X6, tongue in groove, fir flooring. The exposed flooring that you're seeing will be the flooring in the bedrooms after it has been sanded and stained.

West facing view of cedar sided home. All exterior doors are made of vertical grain fir. The dining room features a custom built French door unit with three windows above it to provide a beautiful view of blueberry fields and skyline.

This photograph shows the home as the building envelope was being finished and the cedar siding was being installed. You can also see the modern drain tile system with separate leaders and drain tile.