In 1950, a young Vancouver architectural apprentice was handed a small
house project that his boss was too busy to take on. The apprentice, Ron
Thom, took the simple plan and rectangular foundation that had been
roughed in, and transformed it into a groundbreaking work of
architecture that gained national fame. Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright
and Richard Neutra, but using local wood and paying careful attention to
its verdant oceanside setting, Thom created a landmark for the new
architectural movement known as West Coast Modernism. The client, Dr.
Harold Copp, was himself a trailblazer, the first head of the physiology
department in the University of British Columbia's new Faculty of
Medicine and a research pioneer. Generously illustrated with both
vintage and contemporary architectural photography, line drawings, and
photographs of the architect and residents, The Copp House is the story
of a cultural landmark on the shores of Vancouver.