Every Place Has a Story

Gwen Cash and the Trend House

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When Gwen Cash went to work for Walter Nichol at the Vancouver Daily Province in 1917, she was one of the first women general reporters in the country.

From a story in Sensational Victoria: Bright lights, red lights, murders, ghosts and gardens

Gwen Cash, Times Colonist, April 4, 1970
Gwen meets Emily Carr:

Gwen met Emily Carr when she was sent to Victoria by the Province to interview a woman writer boarding at The House of All Sorts on Simcoe Street. “Frankly I don’t remember much about the visit except that there were all sorts of odd things strung up in the ceiling and I was fascinated and a little scared of Emily,” she writes in Off the Record. Gwen and her husband Bruce settled in Victoria in 1935 and Gwen got to know the artist when when she was public relations officer for the Empress Hotel and Emily lived on Beckley Street.

She wrote three books including her memoir, Off the Record.

Gwen Cash portrait by Myfanwy Pavelic appeared on the cover of Off the Record, 1977. Jack Cash photo, Courtesy Derek Cash
Commissions the Trend House:

In 1954, Gwen had John di Castri design a house to prove that small didn’t have to mean a box. Called the Trend House, it was one of 11 built in Canada and sponsored by BC forest industries to boost retail lumber, plywood, and shingle sales.

At 835 sq.ft. Gwen’s house was the smallest, but also the most talked about. “Mine was the smallest of the trend houses but the most talked and written about. Conventional Victorian viewers, addicted to pseudo-Tudor or modern box construction, were puzzled and vaguely angered by its unique design. Like modern painting it was something that they couldn’t understand” she wrote. The house was opened to the public for three months and more than 34,000 people trekked through.

Trend house photo by Jack Cash appeared in Western Homes and Living August 1960. Courtesy Derek Cash
Lady:

Derek Cash remembers staying at Trend House he was a small boy. He was fascinated by his outspoken and flamboyant grandmother and remembers her dressing in bright clothes with lots of scarves, hats and danging jewellery. She also had her three grandchildren call her “lady.”

Trend House, 3516 Richmond Road, Victoria 2011. Eve Lazarus photo

“I don’t think she really liked being thought of as a grandmother,” says Derek. “We did not call her grandma. We were told to call her “Lady.” At the time it was a name just like nanny. It wasn’t until we got older that we realized it sounded funny.”

After Gwen sold in 1967, the second owner added two rooms and a sun porch.

The other trend houses are in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, London, Winnipeg, Regina and Edmonton. There’s also one at 4342 Skyline Drive, North Vancouver, designed by Porter & Davidson Architects. Michael Kurtz owns the Calgary trend house.

Designed by John di Castri for Gwen Cash in 1954
Architectural drawings for the Trend House

Gwen died in 1983 at 95.

Related:

© All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Eve Lazarus.

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17 comments on “Gwen Cash and the Trend House”

Sorry to let you know that a shortsighted town of Beaconsfield in concert with inaction from the Quebec government and the local member of the National Assembly has resulted in the demolition of the Montreal Trend House on May 31st witnessed by myself and Michael Fish . We have some video on YouTube. the rest is history!

Hi Eve

Just came across your posting while doing some research on the Trend House Program. The London, Ontario house at 544 Fanshawe Park Rd. is still standing but an addition was added at some point which takes away from the lines of the house. I believe the Halifax house is also still standing.

Sandra

Dear Eve,
Thank you for this great article. We are researching Gwen Cash for inclusion in our database, and having an image of her house–and the address–is marvellous. I am about to go over to Victoria to see it (and L. Adams Beck’s home, and Emily Carr’s numerous residence–those I can). You have made my research that much easier!

Karyn Huenemann
Project Manager
Canada’s Early Women Writers project
SFU

What a fabulous project, I’ve just signed up for email alerts. There is quite a lot more about Gwen Cash, memories of her from her grandson and some photos in my book Sensational Victoria. Cheers,
Eve

Dear Eve,
Gwen Cash also spent time at the house out on the Saanich Peninsula that has the Douglas Fir tree growing up the middle of it… do you know exactly where that is? I’d love to see it, if it’s still there…

Karyn Huenemann

You might be interested in reading the article I did in 1995 on the Trend House Program. It was published in the SSAC Journal. I believe Stephen Winn might have a copy.

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