Architecture professor Susan Herringer says Vancouver’s dwindling Modernist stock of houses is considered exemplary of the style. (Evan Ho / Remax)

Ms. Oberlander, who is 94 years old and still working on major projects, says he spent $300,000 or more on painstaking upgrades that were sensitive to the Lassere design, including geothermal heat and high-end appliances in the kitchen that were customized with a colour to fit with the Modernist era. Dr. Friedman had tried to have the house preserved with a heritage designation, but it is in the University Endowment Lands jurisdiction, which is governed by the province. He was told a designation wasn’t available.

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, 92, in New York. (Eric Thayer / For the Globe and Mail)

Meanwhile, the listing agent has received several offers on the house, which he’ll present April 27 to the board members. Vancouver will lose another piece of its history.

For Ms. Oberlander, her community is being dismantled. She shakes her head.

“It makes me feel sick.”

 

 

Source: A Modernist gem falls victim to Vancouver’s housing market – The Globe and Mail