Big Fat Deal: $6 Million to Live a Secret Life

BCLiving takes you inside one of the most outrageously upmarket real estate offerings in the province

Address: 6858 Wiltshire Street, Vancouver

Price: $5,980,000

Listing: R2335653

The skinny: Five-bedroom, six-bathroom, 5,143-square-foot house on a 9,497-square-foot lot in South Granville

The bling: You’ve been looking for something nondescript, a little ugly even. The kind of house that doesn’t invite a second look, that quells curiosity—forbidding yet staunch. Well, here it is: the perfect rendezvous for those who need somewhere très hush-hush. A solid property from which you can look out but that offers little opportunity to peer in. Here you will be seen as someone with standing (look at the price tag), but who prefers to keep their business to themselves. And that’s OK. In this world of international wheeling, dealing and money laundering, there have always been those who work in the shadows, keeping tabs, passing vital information home. What’s that you say? The Cold War is over? Everything’s done online these days anyway? Oh, my friend, how naive you are. There’s still plenty of graft left in good old-fashioned spying, where secrets are whispered and traps are set and, oh my goodness, those panelled walls are perfect for hidden microphones. Yes, this is a safe house, a boringly staid house, with plenty of room to hide whatever modern international agents of espionage require. And when you feel nostalgic for the classic days of John le Carré, you’ll have that kitchen wallpaper and the pink bathroom cabinets to bring back that ’50s feeling and reinvigorate your resolve.

The hidden extras: Large basement (for all your hi-tech tools), a double garage (where you can slip into today’s disguise) and blinds to hide behind on the windows