One particular Vancouver house is known for its over-the-top Halloween displays which have run for the past four years, but it has been bringing the community together for much longer.
Laryssa Gervan moved into the Grandview-Woodland area house in 2011. Her roommate, who had been living there for a year prior, had named the house "Flatland." The name stuck and inspired a communal lifestyle for the years to come.
"As an avid traveller for many years, I encouraged a culture that supported subletting and couch crashing so that myself and my fellow Flatlanders could have a stable base and the freedom to roam," writes Gervan in an Instagram post. "We've been a landing pad to so many friends, siblings, and friends of friends moving to the city. We've hosted many travellers, as well as epic house shows and parties."
Some neighbours may remember the latter as an all-day, summer-long festival called Flatlandia, which lasted four summers and concluded in 2019.
The community event, hosted by Gervan and her roommates, was free for everyone in the neighbourhood, even including those in neighbouring neighbourhoods.
"Everyone in the house brought something different to the table. We had live music in the backyard as well as the stage inside. We ran a market out front. We always ran a cafe, served coffee and breakfast, and we had dinner at night," Gervan tells V.I.A. "We always wanted to keep it accessible and low cost."
Flatlandia would bring together numerous families and children during the daytime, and by the end of the night the wholesome neighbourhood event turned into a dance party.
The festival came to an end just before the COVID-19 pandemic rolled in, during which Gervan began making the elaborate Halloween displays that the house is now known for. But the idea to restart Flatlandia continues to simmer on the back burner.
"I know this place will be dearly missed by many if it goes down"
This summer, Flatland went up for sale.
Naturally, Gervan decided to call out to the local community in hopes that someone would buy it and save it, whether that were a charitable organization or a rich community-loving local.
"I know this place will be dearly missed by many if it goes down," she says on Instagram. "Our well-used free shelf, community chalkboard, beautiful garden and ever changing art have made this place a neighbourhood fixture. My bizarre holiday displays have become a semi-famous draw."
By September, Gervan found five friends to co-buy the house with together. The plan is to divide the value of the house into a percentage that each suite is worth, resulting in a different downpayment for each person, she explains to V.I.A.
Throughout the process, she notes that she can't help but wonder if this type of model -- co-buying a property with other people -- will become more common in Vancouver, noting that she knows plenty of locals who have money saved for a downpayment but simply can't afford anything on their own.
The decision to go from renting to co-purchasing a house is "a little scary," Gervan admits to V.I.A. "Coming into being a homeowner on such an old house. My housing costs are going up a lot, but the alternative is also scary. The rental market is so bad. As much as this is a lot to take on at least the stability is really attractive."
