An enclosed verandah is the connection between home and garden

Credit: Alberni Best Property

Beautiful heritage home in Alberni shows off the classic appeal of a verandah

There’s nothing cosier than an enclosed verandah. Like an old-fashioned tree swing, it’s a flashback to a simpler yesteryear when a family could sleep on the front porch on hot muggy nights and enjoy garden-side August suppers safe from marauding wasps.

That’s what I love about this house in the Alberni Valley, which I learned (during a recent trek there to pick up a tiny Lund runabout) is dotted with gorgeous heritage homes like much of Vancouver Island.

This 1913 classic (actually for sale now if any of you are dreaming of buying a garden retreat) reminds us that a home and garden should really be one and the same – each one leading to the other in as many ways as possible.