Life has been a whirlwind for Sotheby’s International Realty Canada agent Logan Wilson, who recently made the highest recorded residential sale through MLS in Victoria’s history.
The 10,700-square-foot main residence on a 67-acre oceanfront property was listed for $14.1 million and sold in June for $12 million.
The adventure started with an expired listing. Wilson says he had clients in the market and approached the owner for permission to show the off-market house. Following the showing, he gave the owner feedback and not long after they began talking about getting the spectacular contemporary home back on the market.
Fast forward some 986 days to the record-setting sale of the iconic property designed by B.C. architect Marko Simcic. It has received critical acclaim and awards, including the Canadian Architect Award in 2003 and the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award in 2008.
“It has an art instalment/commercial feel. It appealed to those with an appreciation of architecture,” says Logan Wilson. (Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada)
Wilson says the long narrow structure is cantilevered atop concrete (to avoid damaging an endangered natural Garry oak ecosystem) “with the driveway essentially balancing the house in place. Architects and engineers went to great lengths to put the house where they did so it fit into the nature of the property and there was very little disturbance to the ground. It’s a 300-foot long structure and (it) took a proper team and three years of arduous construction” to complete. It was finished in 2007.
“It took an enormous amount of money to build. It was a good deal,” says Wilson.
The setting provides views of the Olympic Mountain range. The property has multiple private beaches and a boathouse with a mechanical launch.
Wilson, who got his real estate licence in 2009, started his career in land surveying and construction. “I was well-versed in the industry by the time I was in my late 20s,” he says. The construction knowledge came in handy when explaining the construction of the home to potential buyers and getting them to appreciate the design’s true genius.
The house is a 300-foot-long structure that took three years to build. (Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada)
Wilson says there was a diversity of interest, with about half of potential buyers from Vancouver, 20 to 25 per cent from California and a few from the East Coast and Toronto. There has been an exodus from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, where you can get more for your money, he says. It was happening before the pandemic but remote working during COVID-19 has left more people free to pursue other locations. There was also some interest from Europe. He says many Californians are moving to Vancouver Island, which has a mini Silicon Valley with people moving from San Francisco. Potential buyers also included some notable rich and famous people.
Many loved the home and property but it didn’t work for some. The bedrooms are not connected to the rest of the house internally so it’s not suited to families with young children, for example.
“It has an art instalment/commercial feel. It appealed to those with an appreciation of architecture.”
The home was listed before the pandemic. “We were lucky to have all the marketing in place – virtual tours, videos and hundreds of photos.”
Seven years ago, Wilson moved to Victoria from Alberta. He was looking to specialize in high-end property. He says he was chosen by Sotheby’s because he had done a lot of sales and was in the top five per cent in Edmonton. “I got attention and took off from there, then specialized in very high-end properties on the Island.”
In the last year, he has also sold several other luxury properties, including a $7.9-million home and a $9-million oceanfront listing. He has set 13 records for the highest sales.
During this time, he also bought a new house for himself, so times have been busy.
“Victoria’s conventional and luxury real estate markets have reflected strengthening consumer confidence and activity in the first half of 2021,” says Doug McGowan, managing broker of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada for Victoria, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands in a news release. In a news release, McGowan says sales this May were up “a significant 130 per cent over the number of properties sold at the same time last year.”
Connie Adair is a contributing writer for REM.
