See the full story in Sensational Victoria: Bright lights, red lights, murders, ghosts and gardens When I was mapping out a walking tour of James Bay for Sensational Victoria not too long ago, I came across the Coach House, an early carriage-style residence tucked away at the point where Marifield Avenue runs into St. Andrews… Continue reading The Coach House

Mostly I write for business magazines, but every now and then I get a really unusual assignment. Last month it was a trip on the Rocky Mountaineer for a travel magazine and another was writing the bios and web copy for the Vancouver Fire Fighter’s Calendar. The travel job took me to Banff and a… Continue reading Fire Hall No. 6

The 2400 Motel on Kingsway opened in 1946. It still has an old fashioned, retro feel and its huge red and blue neon sign.  I discovered the 2400 Motel on Kingsway when I wrote Frommer’s With Kids Vancouver about a decade or so ago. Loved the old fashioned, retro feel of the place and its… Continue reading 2400 Motel: Vancouver’s 10th most endangered heritage site

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 meets Emily Carr: Gwen met Emily Carr when she was sent to Victoria… Continue reading Gwen Cash and the Trend House

The Empress Theatre on West Hastings went up in 1908 and came down in 1940, and in its heyday it had the biggest stage west of Chicago. In the 1930s it was owned by Hollywood stars Fay Holden and David Clyde who also owned a house on 51st Avenue in East Vancouver

I took a drive past the Pantages Theatre at East Hastings and Main yesterday. It was pouring with rain and the Downtown Eastside looked even bleaker than normal, like something out of a Dostoevsky novel. It’s hard to imagine that this skuzzy part of town was once the central business district, but go back a… Continue reading The Pantages Theatre

This is one of my favourite finds at the Vancouver Archives. The house at 755 Bute Street is long gone, but was once owned by Dr. James Farish, a Vancouver ear, eye and nose specialist. On September 4, 1918, Victor Bishop, 23, was home on leave from the War, when the builders—Jimmy and Henry Hoffar, asked him to take their seaplane for a test spin over Burrard Inlet.

It’s too bad Chuck couldn’t be at his memorial service this afternoon. He would have loved it. For starters there were a couple of hundred people there—a totally eclectic crowd, pretty much like the guy himself. The only thing we had in common was that Chuck had touched us all in some way. Local legends… Continue reading Chuck Davis (1935-2010)

Last week Heritage Vancouver released its annual top ten list of endangered heritage sites in Vancouver. Three schools topped the list, but the residence considered most in danger is the four-hectare Shannon Estate at the corner of Granville and 57th. Note that it’s not the 40-room mansion that’s under threat, it’s Shannon Mews, the infill townhouse… Continue reading The Shannon Estate: Fourth most endangered heritage site

Laura West was in her garden one day about two years ago when a family of strangers drove slowly past her house. They rolled down the car window, excused themselves for staring, and told her that their great grandparents had built her house in 1904.

Shahn Torontow has always loved Jonie Mitchell’s song “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” So when a parking lot became available on Steel Street in Victoria, he decided to put up his vision of paradise.

Mark Lindholm is the not so proud owner of the house across from his Westbay Marine Village in Esquimalt. He plans to develop the area into a mixed commercial and residential development and the house came with the land. It also came with a pirate on the roof, a crow’s nest by the front door, a ship’s cannon, anchor, Neptune, a mermaid and a stork made by the house’s owner John Keziere.

The Victoria Heritage Foundation lists over 150 buiildings on its heritage inventory for James Bay. Some day back to the 1860s.

Fred Thornton Hollingsworth met Frank Lloyd Wright in 1951 and turned down a job to work with the legend. Instead the architect stayed in Canada and is responsible for the look of post war North Vancouver.

If you’re planning to enter the James Cunningham Seawall Race this month, spare a thought for its namesake, Jimmy Cunningham. The little Scotsman spent 32 years of his life heaving granite blocks weighing hundreds of pounds and built over half of the 9.5 kilometre wall.

Most municipalities have a heritage inventory that includes houses built before 1940. Makes sense doesn’t it? When you think heritage you think old. But actually heritage can be 20 years old, and that can surprise a new home owner wanting to renovate or demolish who is suddenly hauled in front of a heritage commission.

Infighting at The Land Conservancy seems to have reached a crescendo this past week as present and former board members air out their differences in the media.

Chances are if you live in Vancouver or Victoria you’ve either been inside a Samuel Maclure house or at least walked by one.

The Deep Cove Heritage Society has collected and scanned over 3,700 photos of the area. Most are from the scrapbooks of early residents.

During WW2 more than 3,000 Japanese-Canadian women and children were ripped from their homes and housed in the Livestock Building in Hastings Park