The
idea for the Vancouver Garden House came from our friend Jeannie. Jeannie was the realtor
that found the property where we eventually built our house and an auxiliary building in the back
which first became Carol's photography studio and now is the garden house. Carol is a professional
photographer and back then she had just made the transition from chemical process to digital and
since more than half of her studio was being used as a darkroom it just made sense that we could do
something quite creative with the space. So Carol runs her photography business from her house
where she now has her office and does all her printing and scanning there. It was quite a
changeover and actually a major renovation. We took out the wall around the darkroom completely
and then put in a wall that divided the space in half with one half having the bedroom,
the bathroom, and the laundry room. The other half has the kitchen with the dining room and the
living area. When we were finished we had a small one-bedroom house with a full kitchen,
full laundry, and a spacious bedroom. It even has its own driveway for the car. We do quite a bit
of traveling ourselves and we tend to stay in various kinds of vacation rentals and you know
we couldn't help noticing that it wasn't always perfect and that there were often things missing
that would have really made a difference for us. So now that the shoes are on the other feet well
let's just say that we've tried to make it work for you as well as we would like it to work for us.
On the floor plan you see the garden house has a bedroom, a small bathroom, a laundry room,
and a large kitchen, dining, living area. We added the air conditioner in 2016. Next to the air
conditioner is a large cupboard which stores the bedding for the very comfortable pull-out couch.
I really focused on the kitchen when we were designing the garden house because I traveled
to many places where kitchen supplies were at a minimum to say the least. Our kitchen is completely
stocked for cooking and baking with utensils, pots and pans, baking pans, etc. as well as basic
spices. The fridge and stove are full size and there are enough dishes for entertaining. Our
guests have held parties, barbecues, baked birthday cakes in our garden house. The round table expands
to seat six for special occasions using the garden chairs or black leather chairs as additional
seating. We're proud of our pull-out couch because the mattress is actually pretty comfortable. We
provide bedding for summer and winter temperatures and the bed can be oriented a couple of different
ways. On the bedroom partition wall is a small office area with a desk, a printer, and supplies
including paper and extra ink. The bathroom is compact but features a beautiful tiled walk-in
shower. The sink has some storage underneath but extra storage for towels, toilet paper,
a hairdryer, and a first aid kit are in the bedroom closets which are quite large. The
bathroom has its own heater so it's comfortable even in the dead of winter. The bedroom has a
queen size bed. We provide bedding for both summer and winter. There's room for a crib beside the
door and we store the crib in the ample closets. The large closets with sliding doors provide
ample space for your clothes and luggage storage as well as an iron and ironing board, linen,
and even a yoga mat. There's a heater and an opening window so you can be comfortable at any
time of year. All art in the garden house are photographs and collages which I've made. I
absolutely love the stacking Samsung washer and dryer in the garden house. We've put it in the
mechanical room and it's full size so that it can accommodate sheets, towels, all of that sort of
thing. Also in that room are cleaning supplies such as broom, mop, etc. and a folding stepstool
for height challenged people like me. We also have in that room a small collapsible drying rack
so if you like to dry your clothes out in the sun you can do so. We have a great easy to use
website at vancouvergardenhouse.ca where you can check to see if the dates you want are available,
see what TV channels you could be watching, and get a sense of the quiet but interesting
neighborhood we live in. Nearby Main Street has emerged as one of the city's most vibrant with
boutiques featuring the work of creative local designers and small innovative restaurants and
cafes. Book directly on our website or book your stay with one of several online reservation
services including HomeAway.com, FlipKeyAdvisor.com, or VRBO.com.
vancouvergardenhouse.ca, a home away from home.
