437 Somerset Street, North Vancouver
A couple of weeks ago I was taking photos of this house on Somerset when Bob Findlay politely asked me what I was doing skulking around in his bushes. Fortunately, Bob, the current owner, has already done some research into his house’s social history and was kind enough to invite me inside to take a look around.
The house was built in 1912 as a hunting lodge for Alvo von Alvensleben. One of the first houses built in the area, it sits on a high piece of property overlooking Burrard Inlet. A century ago, it would have looked like it was carved out of the forest, with a grand wraparound veranda and a circular carriage drive.
437 Somerset Street ca.1916
In 1912 Alvensleben was at the top of his career. The son of a German count, he came to Vancouver in 1904 with $4 in his pocket and dreams of finding gold in the Wild West. He was about 10 years too late, and ended up fishing for salmon until he made enough money to speculate in property.
He was wildly successful. Before WW1 he brought millions of dollars of German investment into BC. His family home is now part of the Crofton Girl’s School in Kerrisdale. He developed the Wigwam Inn into a luxury resort, financed the Dominion Building on Hastings Street, and he owned huge tracts of land all over BC, including Pitt Meadows.
Like many land speculators Alvo went broke in 1913. While he was out of the country the following year, war broke, rumours abounded that he was a spy and he couldn’t return to Canada. The federal government confiscated everything he owned, and what’s really fascinating is that you can still see a bit of the red wax on the windows of his Somerset House when the government impounded the house.
John Drainie (1916-1966)
I’ve written about Alvensleben and this house in At Home with History, and the history of the house gets interesting again in 1931 when the parents of actor John Drainie rented it for a few years. Orson Welles called him the greatest radio actor in the world. Young John was self-taught, and in a biography written by his daughter Bronwyn, she says one Christmas when her father was about 15 he directed a production of Twelfth Night in the living room.
The Gundry’s bought the house in 1945 and the family lived there until 1972. Mr. Gundry was a psychiatrist, and their daughter Fran was an archivist in Victoria. She told me that she spent years searching for secret tunnels but never found any.
Senator Ray Perrault and his wife Barbara, a former City of North Vancouver councillor lived here from 1974 until 1995.
My favourite story of the house comes from Don Luxton, who has connected it to another of Alvensleben’s properties on Harris Road in Pitt Meadows, and to Baron Carl von Mackensen’s house in Port Kells. Don says that after war broke out there were rumours that the Pitt Meadows house, the Somerset Street House and von Mackensen’s Port Kell’s house were used by the Germans to pass secret signals by mirror. A century later it’s hard to imagine–and it’s a long distance between the three houses–but it’s possible. They did find a secret radio room in the turret of the Port Kells house, now the Baron’s Manor Pub.
© All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Eve Lazarus.
14776 Harris Road, Pitt Meadows
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9 Responses
Hi,yes i know this address very well…The 437 Somerset address that is.My bro inlaw Senator Ray Perrault used to own it.When the gundries owned 437 they found a secret roon in the house with a light still burning.Alvensleben,s father was the german ambassador to russia prior to 1914.He was nearly successful in getting the czar and his family out of russia before they were assassinated. This could have changed the history of russia as we know it today…
This is absolutely fascinating. Thanks so much for stopping by. Eve
Hi Eve; Love this! I owned the house from 1995 to 2000 and was responsible for moving it slightly over to facilitate selling the lot next to it. The house originally sat on 2 1/2 lots and was expensive to purchase. I loved the house and feared that a developer would purchase it as a tear down and build two houses. The house was not considered heritage. By moving the house and selling the lot I was able to place it on a new foundation, and do some renovations. When the house was originally built there was no foundation and a dirt cellar. My family and I loved the house but ended leaving after 5 years with it only partially renovated. I moved onto another renovation project involving the house I grew up in in West Vancouver.
Hi Helen: It’s a fabulous house, I was lucky enough to get a tour of it a few weeks back. Thanks for giving it a new life!
Hi.When i look at the harris road address i see the very similar lines that the 437 somerset address has in relation to the harris road address.I wonder if both addresses were built by the same contractor.My guess is the divanti residence on Somerset could be the oldest house on 29th hill.The wigwam inn also has the same roof lines as 437 somerset.The deck is very similar as well.
Interesting that you mention that Tyrone. Don Luxton told me that the similarity between the North Van and the Pitt Meadows house was that they both had similar wall dormers and jerkin-headed roofs.
Thanks for this info, lived across the street and down a couple doors for years – played with the Perrault kids growing up (even had ideas of fixing Ty Walker up with my older sister!) Now my family has left the street I’m glad to gather as much info about the neighbourhood as possible. Thanks again!
Wondering if you were in one of the other heritage houses? It’s a great street
Afraid not, we were in 456, built in 1959. I wish I knew something about 440, beautiful house, as well as 430 (? – the one at the top of Maitland). Ty Walker is right about the Devente house (404), it apparently has quite a history (according to a real estate agent I heard talk about 35 years ago) but I don’t know anything about it…