Wood frame character houses run downhill to a beach on English Bay, with the downtown skyline across the water.
What Kitsilano looks like
Streets run downhill from Broadway toward on English Bay, with the downtown skyline visible across the water on a clear day. Wood frame character houses from the 1910s and 1920s line and the blocks around it, broad verandahs facing the sidewalk under deep eaves and exposed rafter ends.
Waterfront blocks keep to three storeys or fewer, so low rise apartment buildings sit beside the older houses without breaking the skyline. Front yards are small, some screened by a hedge or a low picket fence, with a garden bed running along the porch steps.
and Broadway carry the shops and cafes, with a handful of independent bookstores among them. Storefronts sit at street level under one or two floors of housing above. The beach runs the length of the shoreline below them. , a long outdoor saltwater pool, sits partway along it. A path follows the water toward the towers downtown.
Some of the older houses have been divided into rental suites, their porches holding a mix of bicycles and potted plants rather than one household's furniture. Newer infill stands on the same blocks, three and four storey buildings finished in a similar wood and stucco palette.
Shot in Kitsilano
West 4th Avenue's hosted a book signing scene for the streaming series Elle. On Trafalgar Street, has been used as a filming location for the film The Santa Clause 2 and the series 21 Jump Street.
Elle, 2026
Banyen Books
Elle is a streaming prequel set before the events of Legally Blonde. Its book signing and bookstore scene used Banyen Books, and the bookstore's own shelves and wood shopfront are what the camera shows.
Ballard's wood frame houses run down toward Puget Sound in a similar craftsman style, with broad porches and shingled gables from the same building period. The blocks near the water keep a similar low rise scale close to the old fishing docks. Grayer light and taller evergreens read differently in a wide shot, so a tighter frame on the porches and siding holds the match best. Try searching craftsman houses near the water now.
Ocean Park's craftsman bungalows carry the same porches and wood brackets as the houses on the blocks near its own beach. Newer infill sits close by on the streets toward Main Street, much as it does here. Palm trees and flatter, brighter light give the location away in a wide shot; keep both out of frame where possible. Try searching craftsman bungalows near the beach now.
Alameda, California
Alameda's older residential streets carry the same wood frame construction and porch scale on a flat grid near open water. Its Victorian cottages carry more ornament than the plainer craftsman houses here. Streets with heavier gingerbread trim look more decorated than the simpler brackets and verandahs here, so plainer blocks hold the match better. Try searching wood frame houses near water now.
