A peek inside Canada’s most expensive home and the people most likely to buy it

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The Bohlin Cywinski Jackson-designed house in British Columbia has garnered much attention for being not only the highest-priced house listed for sale in Whistler, but in all of Canada, according to Point2Homes.

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Priced at $39 million, the 8,700-square-foot modern house overlooking Whistler and Blackcomb mountains has piqued the interest of wealthy buyers.

“Properties like this, there’s very much a possibility that the owner comes from out of the country,” said Max Thornhill, listing advisor with Engel & Völkers, the property’s listing agency.

Whistler has seen a rise in Canadian residents purchasing property in the mountain resort area about two hours north of Vancouver since the beginning of the pandemic. Overall, around 16 per cent of properties are owned by foreign buyers.

But that changes at the extreme luxury end of the market, where foreign ownership spikes to approximately 50 per cent, the listing agent noted.

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Stonebridge Drive, the exclusve area in Whistler where the property is located, has a number of foreign nationals living there, from France, the United States and Hong Kong.

The property has been on the market for a few weeks and in that time, a handful of “wealthy” people have viewed it, said Thornhill.

“There’s no doubt, when you get to the higher-end properties, what you have with people buying houses like this, there’s a freedom of travel and they can pick whatever place really grabs them,” said the listing agent.

On the lower-end — relative to Whistler prices —  properties are predominantly owned by Vancouverites.

Whistler saw a 29 per cent increase in the median assessed value of single-family homes, from $2.033 million in 2021 to $2.629 million in 2022, according to B.C. Assessment. That compares to July 1, 2020, when the assessed value of a single-family home rose by an average of just one per cent.

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“Some of this probably is a little bit of recovery” from the slowdown brought on by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, B.C. Assessment’s Bryan Murao, told Pique News.

As interest rates put downward pressure on real estate markets in many parts of the country, high-end luxury properties are not seeing the same impact.

“Any economic downturn will impact everything,” Thornhill said, “but these are not the types of properties that people generally put too much debt on.”

The acclaimed architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson has designed some notable structures — such as Bill Gates’ 66,000-square-foot mansion in Washington.

The Whistler estate is a “piece of art,” the listing agent said.

“Some wealthy people have seen the house and understand what this is.”

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The owners of the property are a foreign couple with a love for Canada and an appreciation of fine architecture, he said.

Surrounded by some of Canada’s most impressive views, this massive property, on a seven-acre forested lot, overlooks Alta Lake as well as the ski slopes.

Inside, the unique spiral floor plan features six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a floating staircase and a massive 40-foot granite centrepiece fireplace.

Another noted feature is the courtyard, with art installations that also double as light features for the wine room and spa. A massive cantilevered infinity pool reaches out and over the mountainside. 

The timber paneling adorning the house was made using salvaged wood from a storm in 2007 that tore down hundreds of trees in Stanley Park.

“This has put us on the map architecturally,” the listing agent said. “It puts us on par with Aspen and all those other places the world knows about.”

Article content

The Bohlin Cywinski Jackson-designed house in British Columbia has garnered much attention for being not only the highest-priced house listed for sale in Whistler, but in all of Canada, according to Point2Homes.

Article content

Priced at $39 million, the 8,700-square-foot modern house overlooking Whistler and Blackcomb mountains has piqued the interest of wealthy buyers.

“Properties like this, there’s very much a possibility that the owner comes from out of the country,” said Max Thornhill, listing advisor with Engel & Völkers, the property’s listing agency.

Whistler has seen a rise in Canadian residents purchasing property in the mountain resort area about two hours north of Vancouver since the beginning of the pandemic. Overall, around 16 per cent of properties are owned by foreign buyers.

But that changes at the extreme luxury end of the market, where foreign ownership spikes to approximately 50 per cent, the listing agent noted.

Article content

Stonebridge Drive, the exclusve area in Whistler where the property is located, has a number of foreign nationals living there, from France, the United States and Hong Kong.

The property has been on the market for a few weeks and in that time, a handful of “wealthy” people have viewed it, said Thornhill.

“There’s no doubt, when you get to the higher-end properties, what you have with people buying houses like this, there’s a freedom of travel and they can pick whatever place really grabs them,” said the listing agent.

On the lower-end — relative to Whistler prices —  properties are predominantly owned by Vancouverites.

Whistler saw a 29 per cent increase in the median assessed value of single-family homes, from $2.033 million in 2021 to $2.629 million in 2022, according to B.C. Assessment. That compares to July 1, 2020, when the assessed value of a single-family home rose by an average of just one per cent.

Article content

“Some of this probably is a little bit of recovery” from the slowdown brought on by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, B.C. Assessment’s Bryan Murao, told Pique News.

As interest rates put downward pressure on real estate markets in many parts of the country, high-end luxury properties are not seeing the same impact.

“Any economic downturn will impact everything,” Thornhill said, “but these are not the types of properties that people generally put too much debt on.”

The acclaimed architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson has designed some notable structures — such as Bill Gates’ 66,000-square-foot mansion in Washington.

The Whistler estate is a “piece of art,” the listing agent said.

“Some wealthy people have seen the house and understand what this is.”

Article content

The owners of the property are a foreign couple with a love for Canada and an appreciation of fine architecture, he said.

Surrounded by some of Canada’s most impressive views, this massive property, on a seven-acre forested lot, overlooks Alta Lake as well as the ski slopes.

Inside, the unique spiral floor plan features six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a floating staircase and a massive 40-foot granite centrepiece fireplace.

Another noted feature is the courtyard, with art installations that also double as light features for the wine room and spa. A massive cantilevered infinity pool reaches out and over the mountainside. 

The timber paneling adorning the house was made using salvaged wood from a storm in 2007 that tore down hundreds of trees in Stanley Park.

“This has put us on the map architecturally,” the listing agent said. “It puts us on par with Aspen and all those other places the world knows about.”