Heritage home needs a lot

By Dan Hilborn
Published Jan. 21, 2006


Celine Podin is hoping her cherished 1922 home will find a new home of its own after the land on which it sits has been sold

When Celine Podin first moved into the 1922 Romantic Revival Dutch Colonial-style home known as Longwood, she immediately fell in love with the big old heritage house.

Built 83 years ago in the prestigious Buckingham Heights neighbourhood, the stately two-storey, four-bedroom home had been lovingly maintained with beautiful hardwood floors, intricate wainscoting and a renovated kitchen that combined modern convenience with old-fashioned style.

Like many other longtime homeowners in Burnaby, Podin's home is now simply too large for her needs, and the Irish-born woman is putting her house up for sale this year.

But there's a catch - only the house is for sale. The property has already been subdivided, and she's sold half to a new owner.

This unusual turn of events is being prompted by a situation that is facing many Burnaby homeowners as they grow older and as their children start raising families of their own.

Podin is in a situation that many real estate agents describe as being "house-rich and cash-poor." But because her home is built on an extraordinarily large 152- by 153-foot property, she has found a solution that simply isn't available to many other Burnaby homeowners.

Podin has reached agreement with the City of Burnaby to subdivide the lot in two and build two new homes. But to make her plan work to perfection, she is seeking a buyer willing to relocate the home to another, empty, lot.

While Podin's stately home on the big lot would probably fetch more than $700,000 in the Lower Mainland's raging hot real estate market, the actual house itself is worth much less. One official at city hall, who was obviously impressed by the immaculate Irish-motif interior restoration, has speculated the home could be worth up to $200,000. Podin, who has already sold half of the massive property for fair market value, isn't asking for that much.

"It's such a beautiful home and it's been so well kept - I'm just hoping to find somebody who loves old homes," Podin told the Burnaby NOW last week. "It would be a sacrilege to tear it down."

Jim Wolf, a planning assistant at city hall, said the heritage value of the home has prompted his department to offer to work with any potential buyer to make the relocation work.

"What the city is interested in is preserving heritage," Wolf said. "If we could find the right location for this building, we could work with the new owner."

Meanwhile, Podin said the sale of the house is becoming urgent because the new owner has already purchased half of the lot and she is hoping to move out sometime in February.

And when she finally does move out, she will dearly miss many of the intricate and custom features she lovingly added to the home over the years.

One of her favourite stories is about the ornate, square-design wallpaper she found while vacationing in England. When she hired a professional renovator to properly set it in place, she was warned that the old home had probably settled a little over the years, and the walls may not be as square as the designs on the wallpaper. Thankfully, after the project was finished, Podin learned that her home was indeed set firmly on a good foundation and the walls and corners had remained both straight and true.

In fact, Podin was so in love with her new wallpaper that she hired an electrician to relocate the light switches to foot level so that the intricate design on the wallpaper was not interrupted by the presence of a modern electrical convenience.

Podin also added several other unique and personal touches to the home, which she will be giving up when the Longwood is eventually sold to new owners.

The grand red carpeting features an Irish motif with shamrocks on its edges and a replica of the crest worn by the High King of Ireland in ancient times.

Halfway up the staircase landing is another ornate antique piece, a handcrafted Italian mirror with a classical painting of a romantic couple above the glass that Podin bought from a home in Shaughnessy.

And Podin becomes understandably wistful when talking about the grand old home she's lived in for the past 35 years.

"I'm just hoping to find someone who will love this house as much as I do," she said. "I fell in love with it as soon as I came up the driveway. It was as if the house called to me. It was so homey looking. I've always felt a home here. It's a big house, and it's full of love."

Longwood is located at 5520 Buckingham Avenue. For more information on purchasing the home, call Podin at 604 525-2765.