Every Place Has a Story

Urban Fare opens at the Village at False Creek

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I covered the opening of the new Urban Fare for Canadian Grocer Magazine last Friday. I’m always surprised that this store with its $40 bottles of olive oil, bread flown in from Paris, and wine bars comes out of the Overwaitea Food Group, the same company that operates Save-on-Foods, Buy-Low and PriceMart.

It is of course part of the Jim Pattison empire, and Jimmy, who is ranked by Forbes as the third wealthiest person in Canada and the 173rdin the world, was at the back of the store chatting to staff.

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Vancouver Heritage House Tour

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Win two tickets to the Vancouver Heritage House Tour on Sunday June 3rd. Simply leave a comment at the end of this blog saying which building you’d like to get inside (could be a mansion such as Casa Mia, Shannon or Gabriola, or a commercial building such as the Dominion Building or BC Sugar, or even a First Nation’s church such as St.

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North Vancouver’s Andrews on 8th

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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.

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The Trend House – North Vancouver

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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.

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The Dominion Building

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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….

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Heritage Turkeys

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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.

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The Penthouse Night Club

I’m one of the few people in this city that’s never been to the Penthouse Night Club, and fortunately for me I’ll still get the chance because of the quick response by Vancouver firefighters early this morning.

Yes, it’s a strip club with dubious connections, but it’s also one of the longest running family businesses in the city and its history of bootlegging and bad cops is also the history of early Vancouver.

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Villa Russe

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Looking for a mansion on the right side of town? 3390 The Crescent is on the market for $31.9 million. I’m guessing the owners are receptive to a lower bid, since it was up for sale last year for only $17.9 million.