Eve Lazarus
I haven’t been past the blue building for several months, so it was a nice surprise to drop in for coffee and a veggie panini at Andrews on 8th.
Don’t let the unfinished paint job fool you; it’s a major work in progress by Brad Hodson, owner of Valley Estates, a make-your-own-wine store that shares the commercial block with the cafe.
See the story about Victoria’s Trend House
The Trend House at 4342 Skyline Drive in North Vancouver has just sold for $1,375,000.
The house was one of 11 built in 1954 for Ted and Cora Backer, designed by Porter & Davidson Architects, and sponsored by BC forest industries to boost retail lumber, plywood and shingle sales in the province.
See the full story in Sensational Victoria: Bright lights, red lights, murders, ghosts and gardens
The first time I call Susan Musgrave at her home in Haida Gwaii, she can’t talk because she’s cooking dinner for John Vaillant, author of The Golden Spruce. The second time I call, she’s busy vacuuming, but is kind enough to spare a few minutes before she has to be at her bed and breakfast—the Copper Beech House.
Update: The Dominion Building sold to Toronto-based Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust in October 2021. It had been in the Cohen family since 1943 (they operated Army and Navy until last year). It won’t surprise you to know that the 1910 building is haunted. Tenants have heard ghostly footsteps on the spiral stairs and some claim to have seen a ghost hovering about there….
Mother Tongue Publishing is a small trade publisher run by the amazing Mona Fertig from her heritage house on Salt Spring Island. While other publishers turn their backs on books that lack mass market appeal, movie options or foreign rights potential, Mona actively seeks out poets, first-time writers and unrecognized artists.
For more stories about Chinatown see: At Home with History: the secrets of Greater Vancouver’s Heritage Homes
Last October the Feds designated Vancouver’s Chinatown a National Historical Site. In November, the National Geographic named the Dr. Sun yat-sen Gardens one of the top 10 city gardens in the world.
This is one list you don’t want your name on.
Crosscut, a blog out of Seattle, released it’s Heritage Turkeys of the Year list, what it calls “who did most to raze, wreck, uproot, neglect and generally trash our historic treasures in 2011”
Metro Vancouver made the cut twice.
Want a conversation stopper at your next party? Just bring up the impending real estate meltdown in Vancouver –the one where house prices implode.
You’ll be mocked and told how interest rates are at historically low levels and you’ll hear all about those swarms of filthy rich Chinese flooding our borders. Then, they’ll tell you that thanks to the feds and the CMHC, pretty much anyone can over-extend themselves with 5% down and 35 years to pay it back.
