Every Place Has a Story

What the Alhambra Theatre and the Vancouver Stock Exchange have in common

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From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History

I was spending a typical Friday afternoon yesterday poking around the digital files at Vancouver Archives when I found this photo of the Alhambra Theatre. The photo was taken in 1899, the year the theatre first appears in the city directories and it stood at the corner of West Pender and Howe Street.

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446 Union Street

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It may not be the grandest house on the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s tour, but I bet 446 Union Street house is one of the most interesting, at least when it comes to its social history.

From: Sensational Vancouver

 

Adamo Piovesan built the brick house in 1930 for his wife Maria and their four daughters.

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Joy Kogawa’s House

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Because May is Asian Heritage Month it seems fitting to run a story about Joy Kogawa. The following is an excerpt from the Legendary Women chapter in Sensational Vancouver.

Joy Kogawa’s childhood house is a modest wood-framed bungalow in South Vancouver. There’s really nothing architecturally significant about it except that it’s one of the few original houses that remain in the neighbourhood.

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Five Eccentric B.C. Houses

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Here are five of my favourite eccentric BC houses that still stand (or did at the time of research).

1. The Hobbit House(s)

There are two in Vancouver and one in West Van designed by Ross Lort in the early 40s, and against all odds, all survive. Hobbit house at King Edward and Cambie is now part of a town house development.

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Heritage Streeters with Caroline Adderson, Heather Gordon, and Eve Lazarus

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In February heritage men told us their favourite building and the one building we should have saved. To keep the world in balance, I’ve asked the same question of women working in and with heritage—our answers may surprise you.

Caroline Adderson is an award-winning Vancouver author  and the person behind Vancouver Vanishes.

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Heritage Streeters (with John Atkin, Aaron Chapman, Jeremy Hood and Will Woods)

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One of the things I loved most about being a contributor to Vancouver Confidential was working with reporters, bloggers, artists, tour guides, actors, musicians and academics that cut across both decades and demographics. The experience made me realize what a truly diverse group we have working in the local history and heritage space.

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In and out of Vogue: A Vancouver art deco story

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The Vogue Theatre opened in April 1941 and was designated as a national historic site in 1993.

From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History

Dal Richards opened:

On April 15, 1941 the Dal Richards Big Band was the opening act for the Vogue Theatre, a combination vaudeville and movie house located on Granville Street near the Commodore.

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The Top 10 Most Expensive Houses in BC: nine are in Vancouver

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If you’re a property owner in Metro Vancouver and looking for relief in this year’s property tax bill, well let’s just say it’s not going to happen. For property owners living in one of the priciest regions of the country—the West Coast real estate market keeps going up—and so does your bill.

The good news is that BC Assessment also released the 500 most expensive properties in the province today, and it gives you a glimpse into how the rich get richer.

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