Jeweler Karl Stittgen’s $1.2M Island Home Is an Ode to Frank Lloyd Wright

by Ela Zawadzki

Decades after joining the fellowship at Taliesin West, the late designer and ceramicist built Halcyon Days with his wife, Nora, in British Columbia.

Decades after joining the fellowship at Taliesin West, late jewelry designer and ceramicist Karl Stittgen built Halcyon Days with his wife, Nora, in British Columbia.

Location: 3326 Port Washington Road, Pender Island, British Columbia, Canada

Price: $1,689,000 CAD (approximately $1,184,598 USD)

Year Built: 1994

Designer: Karl Stittgen

Footprint: Main house: 2,800 square feet (2 beds, 2 baths); Guest house: 650 square feet (1 bed, 1 bath)

Lot Size: 6 acres

From the Agent: "Presenting Halcyon Days — an enduring work of art born from fortitude and love. The late British Columbia–based artist Karl Stittgen designed and built this North Pender Island residence with his beloved wife, Nora, as a tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright.

Set high on a private six-acre property overlooking the ocean, the estate includes a 2,800-square-foot main residence, a tea house, a separate 650-square-foot guest cottage, an elevator, and two kilns. True to Wright’s principles, the house emphasizes horizontal lines, natural materials, an open floor plan, carefully placed windows, and an integration of architecture, furnishings, and landscape. Custom built-in furniture appears throughout the home.

The single-level main house is reached via natural rock steps from the driveway, with an elevator providing additional access. Inside, large windows—including a distinctive triangular one that projects outwards—open the living spaces into the view of the forest below and the ocean beyond. Extensive custom woodwork is paired with aggregate stone flooring, gray counters and tile, and a restrained palette of brown, gray, and white.

At the heart of the living area is the library, where custom shelves, a built-in study, and seating are lit by a geometric skylight. A central stone fireplace separates the sanctuary from the living area. Above it, the white wall is engraved with the Latin phrase Voluisse mihi, satis est: ‘To have wanted, for me, is enough.’

Born in Bad Dürkheim, Germany, in 1930, Stittgen arrived in Vancouver in 1952 and established himself as a watchmaker and jeweler in West Vancouver. He became a key player in Vancouver’s active midcentury art and design scene as his bold, architecturally inspired jewelry gained international recognition. In 1962, he stepped away from jewelry design for a time to join the Frank Lloyd Wright Fellowship at Taliesen West. He later opened stores in Calgary, San Francisco, and New York, and in 2009 received a British Columbia Creative Achievement Award of Distinction for his ‘profound and lasting impact on applied art and design in British Columbia.’

After retiring from the jewelry business in 1995, Karl and Nora turned their attention toward what would become their ultimate collaborative work: their own home. Karl meticulously developed Halcyon Days around Wright’s ideas about architecture and daily life while continuing his own creative practice in ceramics.

Following Nora’s death, Karl spent his remaining years in the property’s compact one-bedroom guest cottage, using it as both his residence and studio. Although small, it makes effective use of space and contains a more recently upgraded kitchen, a bathroom, and a living area with a woodburning fireplace. Near-finished pieces, unfinished ceramics, and raw materials from Karl’s practice remain untouched in the guest house today.

An extraordinary sanctuary for an artist or collector, Karl and Nora’s legacy awaits its next steward."