An afterthought of a sketch inspired the rustic, off-the-grid Keats Island love nest of a couple’s dream.
When Vancouver-based designer Daria Sheina was presenting concepts for Sean Sikorski and Chadd Andre’s retreat on British Columbia’s remote Keats Island, she barely paused on a half-finished sketch of two playfully stacked and rotated cuboid volumes. It wasn’t developed enough, she thought. “But we were like, wait, wait, wait, what was that one?” says Chadd with a laugh.
Sheina’s throwaway doodle ultimately set the direction for Sean and Chadd’s home away from home on the island they had both known and loved for decades: an under-the-radar destination off the coast of British Columbia that’s only accessible by passenger ferry or private boat.
Volumes collide in this prefabricated Keats island cabin designed by Daria Sheina. The retreat was constructed from prefabricated components in just two days.
Photo: Andrew Latreille
The prefab building was built by BC Passive House (based in Pemberton, British Columbia) and delivered via helicopter to the property in the woods.
Photo: Andrew Latreille
Sean (a dentist) and Chadd (an executive at a travel company) had both owned separate properties on the island, long before their friendship became something more. Sean later invested in a new lot with plans for building something together, when the two were “older men”—but along came Covid, which shifted both the real estate market and the couple’s priorities. After a quick sale for Chadd, the opportunity to create their perfect hideaway was upon them far sooner than anticipated.
The couple coveted this Percival Lafer sofa for years, and a friend eventually bought it for them as a gift. “I love those colors of the ’70s,” says Sean. “Nothing against modernism—to each their own—but I wanted color, and so we leaned into that palette with this old, harvest-gold leather.”
Photo: Andrew Latreille
See the full story on Dwell.com: Two Days, One Helicopter, and the Perfect Prefab Cabin in British Columbia
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