By Shelora Sheldan | Photographs by Lucas Finlay

“It’s like a big piece of Danish furniture,” says Victoria designer Bruce Wilkin, describing the modernist house he designed and shares with friend and business partner Ann Hillyer.

The two-level, four-bedroom, six-bathroom home sits on a rocky outcropping in the King George Terrace area of Oak Bay, overlooking the ocean. Its long and lean design—the home stretches nearly 50 metres—looks tailor-made for the lot, but it baffled neighbours when it was built two years ago.
Hardly in keeping with the mock-Tudor homes in the area, the front of the Wilkin residence, partially visible from the road, reveals little of the interior save for a series of tiny window squares. Some wags were prompted to compare it to a Costco facade.

Wilkin prefers to describe his house as “simple and mysterious.” He cites California mid-century architects Neutra and Schindler and the Bauhaus school as inspirations for his design, referring to the way they “simplified architecture to its basic elements, eschewing excess ornamentation.”
The mystery unfolds as you step inside the 5,500-square-foot home. It’s set at the back of the half-acre property, and all the rooms are oriented towards the ocean view. The use of natural light and open floor plans, both features of the mid-century modern style, are used to maximum effect, with floor-to-ceiling windows and clean lines throughout.

“The rocks and the view really lend themselves to contemporary,” explains Wilkin. Considering the geology of the landscape, the foundation of the house had to be secured to the rock with steel rods. The shape of the foundation is “scribed to the rock,” Wilkin says. The home extends lengthwise, with the living areas on one side and the office on the other. Both owners wanted a home big enough to entertain family and friends, and to showcase their vast collections of photography, sculpture and painting, and contemporary and vintage mid-century furniture.

Before building, they lived in an existing cottage on the property, getting to know the light, the views and the lot. “I knew where I wanted the kitchen to be and what I wanted to look at,” says Hillyer, who is also partner in the firm Bruce Wilkin Design.

When not working in their office down the hall, Hillyer and Wilkin spend most of their time in the large open room that makes up the main living area. Inspired by a lodge’s great room, the spacious area with rift-cut white oak flooring encompasses living, dining and kitchen areas. It exudes warmth and provides numerous areas to lounge in. Two spacious Cassina couches flank the nearly two-metre granite fireplace and an arc of Eames leather loungers face the end of the kitchen counter, positioned to view the flat-screen TV recessed into the counter’s white oak.

Both Wilkin and Hillyer are avid entertainers, and the roomy kitchen design allows them to cook together while entertaining guests without getting in each other’s way.  An immense floating island with black granite top divides the baking area with a Miele wall oven on one side (“the best wall oven in the world,” claims Hillyer), and on the other side, the cooking area with a professional-quality Viking oven and stainless appliances. A side counter provides out-of-the-way space for guests to mingle or nosh on appetizers, creating ultimate kitchen parties.

Stylish Artemide lamps hang over the Wilkin-designed rift-cut white oak dining table that seats 14 comfortably. The space accommodates not only friends and extended family for dinner, but has hosted poetry readings and the curious who paid to view the home through the Victoria Art Gallery’s annual home and garden tour.

The adjacent library-media room provides cozy balance. A two-person table with 1950s Arne Jacobsen chairs provides an ideal lunch spot. In the evenings, with its own fireplace and retractable screen, it’s perfect for movie watching. Motorized plaid “Doris Day”-style curtains add an extra element of privacy. The room is Hillyer’s favourite spot for knitting or talking on the phone while curled up in one of the red Jean-Michel Frank-inspired chairs designed by Gabriel Ross.

The main floor stretches from the living areas to the bedrooms, bathrooms and finally the office, set far enough away to be separate from the living space. It’s situated at the end of the long hallway (nicknamed “the long haul”) and features 31 small square windows, each etched with one word from a commissioned poem by Rosalee van Stelten. At sunset light illuminates the words, projecting them onto the floor and wall, transforming the hallway into a work of performance art.

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