Ladner Seaside Estate

This large custom-built mansion sits just behind the Boundary Bay dyke path, surrounded by barns and fields, with views out over the water. It was built to the owner’s specifications in a style that speaks to the fine homes, careful craftsmanship and artistry of an earlier era.

Lentel was originally contracted to frame the new home after framing the owner’s original house, but as the project progressed, our relationship with the owner strengthened and we were asked to provide additional expertise until the project was completed. In all, we worked with the owner for approximately three years on this highly detailed project.

The grounds feature a stone and timber-walled courtyard accessed by a round-topped wooden door, a potting shed, manicured gardens, and a large fountain and statuary. Brick and stonework are featured both in and outside the home. Highly detailed, fine millwork throughout the interior evokes the architectural detailing found in British stately homes, and many movie and TV shows have been filmed at the estate.

One of the home’s many luxurious features is a full-scale British pub that is entered from the outside via a quaint porch overlooked by leaded glass windows. Visitors using the pub’s interior entrance feel as though they’re entering from a London street, with a trompe l’oeil sky painted on the barrel-vaulted ceiling, brick flooring, and a red telephone box near the door. The telephone box is one of two on the estate, and the floors had to be specially reinforced to support their weight. Lentel lifted the phone booths into the building with a crane before the roof tresses were put on. The pub is supplied, in part, by an old-fashioned-looking wine cellar that Lentel constructed.

Although the home has been built to look as though it has been there forever, its systems are modern, with a geo-thermal field for heating.