(more photos below)
Describe your home:
A condo in Olympic Village.
Occupant:
Paul Heisler, employment lawyer, outdoor enthusiast, and foodie, who came west from Montreal about a decade ago.
Major selling feature:
Definitely its location; my place is located within a few hundred feet of the seawall, a grocery store, transit, the recreation centre, the best liquor store in the city (Legacy Liquor), and several great restaurants.
First thing you changed:
I love the original layout so have not changed anything structural, but I did create a pretty distinctive feature wall with wallpaper sourced for me by Jenn Scott of A Good Chick to Know.
Feature you brag about:
The underground passageway to Urban Fare next door; it’s especially handy when it’s rainy in the winter and you want to pick up food for dinner without getting wet.
That one conversation piece:
A good friend of mine is an emerging star on the local art scene, so I commissioned a painting from him of one of my favourite spots in British Columbia: Tofino. He produced an amazing and unique piece made up of four different canvases that come together to show the Tofino that I love in four different lights. Check out his work at CharlieEaston.com.
The décor:
I turned to A Good Chick to Know to help me put together a décor that added some industrial and vintage elements to the contemporary design typically found in new condos in Vancouver. The result is a comfortable and modern space with a bit of the grit you might find in a New York loft.
The story behind the art:
In addition to the piece by Charlie Easton, the artwork in my place is a fairly eclectic mix of original art I’ve picked up over the years and reclaimed pieces such as light fixtures made from old brass horns in my living room. The most meaningful antique is a large wood window pane mirror in my bedroom that used to hang on a wall in a cottage in Quebec built by my late grandparents in the 1940s. It doesn’t really fit in with anything else but it has sentimental value.
Downsides:
It will end one day but for now there is still an incredible amount of construction in the neighborhood with new buildings going up every year.
Neighbourhood haunts:
Tap & Barrel, Craft Beer Market, and especially Argo Café on Ontario and 2nd; it’s a hidden gem of a diner that’s easy to miss but has incredible food and real character.
Compared to your last place:
I lived on the 29th floor of a waterfront tower in Yaletown before moving to the Olympic Village. I enjoyed that space too, but I prefer the location on this side of False Creek because of its proximity to both East Vancouver and Kitsilano.
Favourite activity:
Playing volleyball at the Creekside Recreation Centre next door; it’s only a couple of hundred feet from my front door and shares a building with a pub with the best patio in the city.
