It's not often one gets to tour an Arthur Erickson-designed house.
It is even more unlikely that it would be located right here in Comox. Sitting on a magnificent bluff overlooking the Strait of Georgia, this house and property it is one of Comox's best-kept secrets.
Designed by Erickson in1959 for Robert Filberg, heir to timber baron Robert Filberg Sr., the house has been described by the Globe and Mail as the best integration of modernist house with modernist landscape design in the province. Canadian Homes magazine once lauded it as "the most fabulous house in Canada."
The house is 2,000 square feet with massive wall-to-wall windows and a dramatic use of space and strong horizontal lines. The landscaping is as magnificent as the house with the typical concentration Erickson paid to situating his structures.
How the building sits in relationship to the environment was always a key component of his work. He once stated that ...
"it (a building) is never solitary, but is part of its setting and thus must blend in a timeless way with its surroundings…."
Erickson is perhaps British Columbia's best-known architect, having designed major sites such as Simon Fraser University, Museum of Anthropology at UBC, and the Provincial Law Courts in Vancouver. His work outside B.C. is extensive and includes the San Diego Convention Centre, Museum of Glass in Seattle, and the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., to name but a few.
Local residents will have an opportunity to visit Erickson's Filberg House for a fundraising garden party on May 1 from 3 to 7 p.m. The fundraiser supports the re-elect Don McRae campaign.
Tours of the house will be offered along with a live auction, live entertainment and appetizers. Tickets cost $100 and are available at the campaign office at 2085 Cliffe Ave. in Courtenay.
— Don McRae