Heritage advocates are applauding a B.C. Supreme Court decision that has put the brakes on the sale of West Vancouver's Binning House by The Land Conservancy to a developer until other options are examined that could preserve the house for the public.
"It's a significant reprieve," said Adele Weder, a heritage advocate who has been involved in efforts to promote the Binning House as a key part of West Coast modernist history. "It showed the law had teeth."
Weder said she hopes the halt to the sale will provide a chance for other groups interested in preserving the Binning House for the public to join forces and come up with a viable plan.
The Land Conservancy acquired the heritage home in 2008 from a society set up by executors for Jessie Binning's estate.
Since then, however, the conservancy's financial troubles have snowballed and it was put under creditor protection in October.
Facing pressure from its creditors to pay back $7.5 million it owes, the conservancy announced this fall it planned to sell the Binning House for $1.6 million to a corporation controlled by developer Bruno Wall.
Heritage advocates opposed the sale, and both the province and District of West Vancouver went to court last month to block the sale.
In particular, the province argued the sale would contravene B.C.'s Charitable Purposes Preservation Act and said the Binning House should only be sold or transferred to an organization willing to take on its management for specific charitable purposes.
In a decision released Wednesday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick agreed, writing that the evidence was clear the Binning House was intended to be transferred to the conservancy "on trust for the purpose of its preservation into the future for the public."
Fitzpatrick ruled the Binning House was transferred for a specific purpose - "to preserve it for generations to come" - not to serve the conservancy's general goals.
At the time of the transfer, the conservancy was "well aware as to the basis upon which the Binning House was being transferred. .. the board agreed to accept the donation on that basis," wrote Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick noted that until the conservancy received the unsolicited offer from Wall's company this fall, it had not attempted to sell the property or find another group willing to take on the home.
Fitzpatrick didn't close the door on a future sale or transfer of the property, but made it clear the conservancy would have to look for either a group or private buyer willing to preserve the property for historical purposes as originally intended.
In her judgment, Fitzpatrick noted there will be significant costs to that, regardless of who eventually takes over responsibility for the Binning House.
One inspector who looked at the house this fall estimated it needed between $150,000 and $200,000 in repairs to prevent further structural deterioration.
"Good intentions are one thing, but they must, at least in this case, be married to a chequebook," wrote Fitzpatrick.
Weder called the ruling this week "great news beyond the Binning House itself," adding if the sale "had just been a slam dunk" it would have far-reaching implications for donations of other heritage properties.
The decision forcing the conservancy to look at other options means "there's an opportunity" to come up with a different solution, said Weder.
Weder said she had previously been in talks with District of West Vancouver when the surprise sale of the home was announced this fall.
John Shields, manager of The Land Conservancy, said Thursday the conservancy's board is still going through the decision with lawyers and would not be commenting further.
