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Home Tour: CRAFT Valencia Walnut Floors on Bowen Island

How do Cathy and Allan Peters' west coast homes embody an ode to wood and enduring quality?

In 1984 Cathy and Allan Peters bought two acres of Bowen Island oceanfront, across from West Vancouver. They dedicated themselves to building careers and raising their three children with a constant connection to the water, woods, and nature. Thirty-four years later, at their new mountaintop home, Allan and Cathy showed CRAFT the panoramic sunrise view from their perfectly positioned deck.

Allan ingeniously integrated the house into a technically challenging lot of steep topography, creating a living space that seamlessly connects to the surrounding forest, views of Snug Cove, Pacific Ocean, and the North Shore mountain ranges. We discussed the details of his core principal of enduring quality when creating his west coast homes.

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Q: How did you begin your professional path?

A: It was after I (Allan) had graduated from architecture school at UBC, that I went to a lecture by Arthur Ericsson, and spoke with him afterwards. I asked what he would recommend I should do as a new graduate of architecture and what would be the best course to take with my career. Arthur answered, “design some large house projects in West Vancouver”. I listened to him and that is what I did.

One project led to another and I found that creating new homes, fulfilling the vision and dreams of our clients, became a passion and life long interest.

Q: In addition to creating a living space that feels like a natural extension of the forest, and ocean vistas, can you explain further goals for your own personal home?

A: The key social aspect of the house is having a living space where we can have a good size group of friends and family gather together. The living area and kitchen open up by way of wide patio doors making it very comfortable for a large sized group of people.

Our floor plan also includes lots of variety for places to sit, rather than just providing a big open space. People can choose to sit in separate alcoves; intimate areas where people can feel comfortable together. In that way our home works for 2 people, or it can accommodate a lot more.

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Allan has used hardwood floors in every house he has created. He notes hardwood floors are becoming more popular. He likes to focus on natural, superior, long lasting materials for all parts of the construction of his houses. His clients have understood the value of enduring materials in the kind of projects he has been fortunate to have.

Allan specifies CRAFT floors to solve some of the most common concerns in flooring selection. This includes access to interesting and unique floors of lasting quality (solid core components and longer lengths are key), responsibly sourced materials, and a reliable advanced construction that performs in any home environment including being radiant heat compatible.

Q: Tell us about your top priorities and values when making homes of excellence in design and construction?

A: Having had over thirty years in this business and faced every kind of problem you can imagine, we strive to find materials that we know have enduring quality. Most of our clients still live in the homes that we designed and built. Our goal is to create homes that will be loved for generations.

Allan specifies CRAFT floors to solve some of the most common concerns in flooring selection. This includes access to interesting and unique floors of lasting quality (solid core components and longer lengths are key), responsibly sourced materials, and a reliable advanced construction that performs in any home environment including being radiant heat compatible.

Allan: Products evolve all the time. The whole hardwood floor industry has changed radically over the last 10 years; with so much manufacturing shifting to China, and with all the changes to regulations for coatings. There are a lot of challenges that have come up over the last years with how products are made, with manufacturing, coatings and finishes.

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In opposition to trend-driven design and the focus on superficial cosmetic surfaces, the idea of an investment into the future, timeless design, is another of Allan’s core design principals. There is no place for fads, especially with floors.

Allan Peters expects a floor to last the lifetime of the building. With his CRAFT Valencia floor, that can be sanded and refinished if necessary, he is hoping that someone can enjoy this floor for at least the next hundred years. And that is a very different way of thinking about home construction these days.

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I was so happy to discover CRAFT. The first 10 seconds I spent examining CRAFT’s wood products at the 2015 IDS Show in Vancouver was all it took for me to say aha –here is something different; this is it.

For Allan, some of the highlights include the fact that the core of the flooring made of solid pieces of Canadian Spruce, not plywood. How the floor stands up over time has everything to do with its construction. Allan distinguishes between floors that have the look but do not have the substance behind them. The choice of long lengths, widths and thickness of the wear layer is very important to him. Allan also appreciates the variety of CRAFT wood species, and the very natural looking finishes.

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Q: Tell us about the role of flooring in your opinion.

A: The floor is one of the foundational components of every home and I work hard to find the right product in terms of material, tone and finish and everything that goes with that selection.

There have been very few high quality pre-finished flooring products available that we are comfortable recommending.

Since the common use of site-finished flooring ended, we have never been even close to being satisfied with the options available in the market for pre-finished flooring –until we found CRAFT anyway.

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The healthy house issue.

Twenty-five years ago, Cathy developed chronic asthma, so we did a serious study on interior air quality in homes and discovered the improvements that would be beneficial. Over the years we have built three new homes for ourselves based on what we learnt and Cathy has been completely healthy for the last 20 years. This is because we enjoy healthy indoor air resulting from making the right choices of materials.

The components that go into CRAFT Floors are a big part of the healthy home concept. Allan is delighted to be working with a company that has a healthy environment and interior air quality in mind. CRAFT’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) and GREENGUARD® Gold certifications on all floors evidence this commitment.

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Q: Tell us about your Valencia floor.

A: Out of all our interior selections, we began with our choice of flooring. Even though the Valencia Walnut flooring is softer than most wood species, we are careful with it, and Walnut is what we wanted. Our Walnut floor feels almost cushiony underfoot compared to Oak or Hickory. We are careful not to drag furniture over it and we do not wear our outside shoes in the house.

I’ve done a lot of work with Walnut so I knew how it would perform. The feeling you get from Walnut is worth putting up with the risk of damage. I love that it’s like a piece of beautiful furniture. We lie on it and do our stretches on it. It’s super comfortable. The Walnut flooring is the significant feature for creating the luxurious, warm and cozy atmosphere for the house we were wanting.

Above: Walnut dressers and bed made by Allan and a wall and ceiling of Red Cedar from a local Bowen Island mill.

Here: Acrylic and mixed media by Cathy and Allan Peters daughter.

Learn More about: Cathy and Allan Peters MRAIC, and A.W. PETERS & ASSOCIATES LTD.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1 What specific CRAFT flooring is showcased in the Valencia home tour?

The Valencia home tour features CRAFT Floor's Valencia Walnut flooring. This wood was chosen to complement the home's design, which seamlessly connects to its natural surroundings on Bowen Island.

2 What was the design philosophy behind integrating the Valencia home with its environment?

Allan Peters ingeniously integrated the house into a technically challenging lot with steep topography. His design created a living space that seamlessly connects to the surrounding forest, views of Snug Cove, the Pacific Ocean, and the North Shore mountain ranges. He emphasized a core principle of enduring quality.

3 How does the Valencia home tour exemplify enduring quality in design?

The homeowner, Allan Peters, built the house with a core principle of enduring quality, ensuring it would stand the test of time and harmonize with its natural setting. This commitment to lasting design is evident in how the home integrates with its challenging mountaintop lot and panoramic views.