Helping You Buy, Build, or Renovate Your Home
Bits & Bites by Peter Simpson
Bits & Bites by Peter Simpson for METRO
Personally renovated homes open to the public
Come on, admit it, you have strolled down the street and sneaked a peek through the window of a neighbour's recent home renovation (from the sidewalk, of course).
Well, here is a chance to walk across the thresholds of seven strangers' homes to view some jaw-dropping home makeovers.
The Greater Vancouver Home Builders' Association and presenting sponsor FortisBC invite you to visit seven professionally renovated homes in Burnaby, North Vancouver, Surrey and Vancouver on June 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Renovations on display include the revitalization of a 1950s bungalow, restoration of a 1920s Vancouver heritage home, eco-chic kitchen, bathroom makeover, conversion of a Westside basement suite, an extensive interior/exterior renovation, and a contemporary whole-house transformation.
The award-winning renovators and their teams - perhaps even the proud homeowners - will be on site to discuss their craftsmanship. Project values range from $135,000 to more than $800,000, offering parade participants an abundance of ideas they can incorporate in their own homes.
Admission is by passport, available at $10 per person (children 17 and younger are free). Passports can be purchased at any home, then used for entry to the remaining six homes.
Partial proceeds from passport sales will help to fund the purchase of tools, building materials and safety gear for a carpentry training program at Guildford Park and Frank Hurt secondary schools.
Visit www.gvhba.org to review the homes, including project descriptions, locations and photos.
Committed educator
I participated in the recent Lower Mainland Local Government Association (LMLGA) annual general meeting and conference, attended by mayors and councillors from Metro Vancouver and surrounding municipalities.
The annual meetings provide a venue to network and explore issues and initiatives relevant to the delegates' communities. Resolutions covering a wide range of topics are also voted on and, if approved, are forwarded to the Union of B.C. Municipalities for its consideration and action.
The LMLGA outgoing president is Lorrie Williams. Now in her fourth term (10 years) as a New Westminster councillor, Williams wears another important hat, that of a committed educator.
In 1982, Williams and fellow tearcher Maureen Pollard travelled to Africa as volunteers. Today, Williams helsp to run an educational society she founded in 1985 - the Canadian Harambee Education Society, which currently sponsors more than 750 female students in Kenya and Tanzania.
Visit canadianharambee.ca for details. Harambee, by the way, is Swahili for "pull together."
Categories: Renovations / Renovating, Using a professional