In 1981, British Columbia was in the throes of a recession, house prices were plummeting, and first-time buyers were looking at interest rates of over 20%.
Architectural offices were closing, and even a starchitect like Ron Thom was searching for clients. So, a commission to design the PNE prize home likely would have been very welcome.
Thom had cut his teeth designing more than 60 mid-century modern homes mostly on the North Shore, but had moved onto work on commercial buildings such as the BC Electric Building in Vancouver, and after he opened an office in Toronto, designed the Massey College, the Shaw Festival Theatre and the Toronto Zoo.
For the PNE he designed a bright and airy home of close to 4,000 square feet—more than twice the size of earlier prize homes. Behind the solid oak front door was a dramatic glass-roofed atrium which soared up from the courtyard entrance to the roof. Short flights of stairs led to the living areas, a self-contained master bedroom was placed at the top of the house and four bedrooms below. It was bright and airy, and likely frightening for people used to traditional houses with small rooms, two floors and a basement.
It was also quite complex to build and the cost went from $250,000 to $450,000, which didn’t include the Coquitlam lot which had been purchased as its designated resting place.
Batex Industries, the builder, ran into financial trouble and liens were placed on the house by several contractors, and by Thom.
In the end, winners Ray and Ruth Swift decided it “was the weirdest house” and PNE staff thought it too modern for the average family. The Swifts took $250,000 in cash, and Ron Thom’s PNE house sold for $2,500 and was shipped to a lot in South Surrey.
In 2018, it was valued at $2.6 million.
For more on the PNE Prize home: The PNE – Party like its 1957 and 10 things you won’t see at the PNE this year
Source:
- Elizabeth Mackenzie’s 2005 thesis “The PNE prize home—tradition and change.”
- Sensational Vancouver
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