Sale of 'Canada's most fabulous house' worries Arthur Erickson fans

Fans of Vancouver-born Arthur Erickson say they're concerned about the recent sale of what is said to be the first personal residence the award-winning modernist architect designed in 1959. 

The Filberg House, named after the son of the logging baron it was built for, was listed in early August and sold last week for nearly $2.75 million. 

This is the second time Realtor Marc Villanueva has sold the house, which is perched on the highest point in Comox, B.C., on Vancouver Island. Villanueva says the owners, a couple from Calgary, appreciated the historical value of the home but they wanted to upgrade to a larger place.

"When it was designed and built, it was for a single fellow, and it was a bachelor pad," he said. 

Although the listings says the home has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, Villanueva says that's because of an additional building that was constructed as a medical clinic for the doctor who owned it at the time.

The main house, he says, has one bedroom and a small den. Its main purpose was for entertaining and taking in the sweeping vistas from the bluff it sits on.

Villanueva says the house was sold to a couple from Victoria. 

Architectural photographer Simon Scott, who is also a board member of the Arthur Erickson Foundation, worries what will happen to it now. 

Scott says the property, once named "Canada's most fabulous house" in a 1961 issue of Canadian Homes, should be preserved as is. 

"It must be saved," he said. "It's a jewel in Canada." 

Scott, a longtime friend of Erickson's, says he got to see the house shortly after it was built. He also had the misfortune of seeing it after one of the owners renovated. 

The house was covered in pink stucco. 

"It was atrocious," he said. "It was just disgraceful. Totally, totally disgraceful." 

Realtor Villanueva also recalls that period in the home's history. He says the house was "cannibalized."

A neighbour, Doug Field, eventually bought the home and restored it. 

Villanueva says the house does need a few upgrades to usher it into current times. The electrical and plumbing systems need to be upgraded, he says, and new owners would likely want to upgrade the small bathroom and kitchen.

For Scott, the idea that such a historic piece of architecture would be altered at all is blasphemy. He says the Town of Comox doesn't have any heritage designations as part of its bylaws, so it's possible the house could be changed beyond recognition.

"It should be with architectural people who can decide who is best to have it," he said. "I would love to see the city of Comox take it over and have it as a centre."