Eve Lazarus
Henry Switzer’s shocking pink house sat at Mathers and Taylor Way in West Vancouver. It was designed one Sunday and received attention from all over the world.
Local Landmark:
A few years ago, I wrote a story about a West Vancouver house that became a local landmark. Readers told me that they fondly remembered the pink house on the hill as the “airplane house,” the “Jetsons House,” the “windmill house,” and the “helicopter house,” because it appeared to have wings.
Barr and Anderson, was a Vancouver company founded in 1898 and the name behind the mechanical work in some of our oldest buildings – a few of which still stand.
Founded in 1898:
Back in the 1960s, Doug Archer was an apprentice plumber with Barr and Anderson, a Vancouver company founded in 1898 and the name behind the mechanical work in some of our oldest buildings – a few of which still stand.
Heritage Vancouver released their annual top 10 watch list last month (for 2021), and rather than look at endangered buildings, they have focused on space. I was interested to find Victory Square on the list—or rather not the square itself, but the buildings that surround it, some of which date back to the 1800s.
Janet Stewart was going through her mother Edna’s things after she passed away recently and came across four sketches by Frits Jacobsen. They showed various Vancouver buildings in the late 1960s. Janet googled his name, came across a story by Jason Vanderhill on my blog, and kindly sent me photos.
Hornby and Nelson:
I posted Jacobsen’s drawing of the corner of Hornby and Nelson Streets from 1969 on my Facebook page Every Place has a Story.
Beatrice Lennie created a mural for the Hotel Vancouver’s lobby in 1939. It’s been hidden behind a wall since 1967. This story is from Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History.
Beatrice Lennie:
When Beatrice Lennie graduated from the first class at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design) in 1929, it took four piano movers to shift her diploma piece.
Thursday November 25 is International Day. Remembering Olga Hawryluk, 23, murdered May 3, 1945.
From Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance and the Blood, Sweat and Fear podcast.
Granville Street:
On May 2, 1945, Olga finished her shift at the Empire Café on West Hastings at 2:30 am and was walking to her home in the West End.
Doug Bennett, lead singer of Doug and the Slugs and his wife Nancy bought an old house on Semlin Drive in 1987. The house received heritage designation last month.
This story is from my book Sensational Vancouver
2146 Semlin Drive:
Current owners Adrienne Tanner and Mike Walker now have a Heritage Revitalization Agreement with the City of Vancouver.
There is a fake house in Burnaby that has fooled even some of its closest neighbours since 1967. Rumours have spread that it’s everything from a government safe house to an animal crematorium, but the truth is far more interesting.
From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
The Fake House:
The house is actually a huge ventilation shaft that’s hidden in plain sight.
