Billionaire Jim Pattison's West Vancouver house for sale for $1 — land not included

In the 1950s, a young car dealer named Jimmy Pattison traded a property he owned near Horsehoe Bay for a small yellow seaside home just a stone's throw from Ambleside Beach.

“The location, the water … the house was very practical for our family,” said the 93-year-old Pattison from the downtown Vancouver offices of the Jim Pattison Group headquarters Tuesday.

"There’s nothing I didn’t like about that house."

Over the years, Pattison’s family members and the captain of his yacht have lived in the home. But as most other waterfront lots between Ambleside and Dundarave were bought by the District of West Vancouver to make way for the public seawall, only Pattison’s house and the one next door remained.

When he was elected mayor of West Vancouver last November, Mark Sager hoped to changed that.

“This was a plan that started 40 years ago when council decided we wanted public access all the way from 25th (Street) and Bellevue (Avenue) to Ambleside Park,” said Sager, who knew he had to speak to Pattison.

“I’ve known Jimmy my entire life, and I phoned him up and said, 'I know this home has great sentimental value for you, but it really is time.' And he’s such a wonderful man, and he said, 'Mark, you’re right.'”

So Pattison agreed to trade the little yellow house again, this time for a piece of property that had been gifted to the district.

“That allowed us to be able to acquire this home without using any taxpayer dollars,” said Sager.

Now that the district of West Vancouver owns the plot of waterfront land, it’s selling the house that sits on it for the tidy sum of $1.

“And who buys the house has to pay for the move and have the land to put it on,” explained Pattison.

“We are hoping somebody will save this home,” said Sager. “Take it and float it away and put it in a new spot, and restore it and keep it so it doesn’t have to go in the landfill.”

The district is partnering with Light House, a non-profit that works to save homes from being demolished.

“This is a valuable home, it has housed people, it can still house people,” said Gil Yaron, Light House's managing director of strategic initiatives.

“There is a housing crisis we are facing today, and homes like the Pattison home can provide housing for people in other communities. There is no reason to tear them down.”

The mayor is confident the home can be moved in one piece.

“Nickel Bros, I believe, have been out and inspected it. They’re a moving company, so I think it can be, yes,” said Sager.

Pattison chuckled when he was told the home he bought nearly 70 years ago could be picked up and moved.

“I guess it’s not a big house, so you probably could do it,” he said.

And Canada’s second-richest man is thrilled the land it sits on will soon become part of the public seawall.

“People can walk in the nice weather, they can take their children there to play in the park,” said Pattison, adding that the district is "doing the right thing.”

The district is also in talks to purchase the house next door, which is now the last remaining obstacle to having a continuous seawall.

“The vision is to complete the Ambleside waterside acquisition plan, and the seawall that started all those years ago,” said Sager.

When Jimmy Pattison moved into the yellow house decades ago, the West Vancouver waterfront was mostly private property. The district hopes it will soon all belong to the people.