Desire came first. “We have a strong interest in everything antique,” explains Larry. (Sherry has channelled this passion into a business and owns a store, French Country Antiques, with a friend.) “We spent a year living in France, and that is where we had the idea to buy a Norman barn and reconstruct it in Vancouver,” Larry says. “As it turned out, we found a spectacular barn in England.” Once the barn, replete with its honey-coloured posts and beams, arrived in Vancouver, the search began for the right place to put it. What the Killams found was a 2 1/2-acre property, which had been a nursery for more than 60 years, near where Larry grew up. In fact, part of the land remains a working garden centre—renowned plantsman Thomas Hobbs’ Southlands Nursery. The Killams built on “the part that was a works yard—about three-quarters of an acre,” explains Larry. They not only transformed the barn but also added a T-shaped extension for a kitchen, garage and a garden room used mainly for enjoying the views across the pond.
**Set off by the silver leaves of weeping pear trees, the peachy blooms of ‘Royal Sunset’ climbing roses deck the courtyard walls.**
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