Sustainable Home and Garden Tour Showcases Energy Retrofits

The sustainable home and garden tour led by Landform architect, Chris Allen, is becoming an annual feature of Penticton’s Meadowlark Nature Festival. Each year, the tour addresses different sustainability issues and local solutions by showcasing new builds, retrofits and renovations. This year, Chris centred his tour around the question: “How can we gently evolve our housing stock to face the challenges of the modern world, without sprawling onto the hillsides?”

Twenty participants viewed the gardens and interiors of two recently completed renovations on the edge of Penticton. The first stop on the tour, located on Westminster Ave., beside the KVR and a short walk from downtown, featured the renovation of a 1970s suburban house. Through the addition of insulation, new windows and exterior shading, the house was re-envisioned as an eco-home, set into a naturalized landscape.

The second tour stop, on Lower Bench Road at the foot of Munson Mountain, featured an existing farmhouse that has been turned inside out. During the renovation, the former foundation became a courtyard garden and pool, surrounded by a super-efficient dwelling, opening up to panoramic views of the valley.

Exploded diagram of the Lower Bench house showing the original home in white, with added or upgraded components shown in colour.

Exploded diagram of Westminster home, with added components shown in colour.