Eve Lazarus
The Switzer house of West Vancouver was designed one Sunday, painted pink, and received attention from all over the world.
840 Mathers:
In 1960, the Taylor Way interchange on the Upper Levels Highway looked radically different than it does today. That year, local builder Henry Switzer placed his shocking pink house at 840 Mathers Avenue at the end of 9th Street.
It’s the first week of January, 2017 and if you own a house you’ve received your BC Assessment notice. If you’re like us you’re not popping open the champagne quite yet because your house has smashed through the ceiling of the home owner grant and you’re on the hook for a lot more taxes, all without putting out one lick of paint.
This is an ongoing series that asks people who love history and heritage to tell us their favourite existing building and the one that never should have been torn down.
Bill Allman is a “recovering lawyer” and instructor of Entertainment Law at UBC. Bill has been a theatre manager (the Vogue), president of Theatre Under the Stars, and a concert promoter through his company, Famous Artists Limited.
Our second Hotel Vancouver opened its doors in 1916 and was the most elegant and ornate building that we have destroyed.
From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
Built in 1916 and pulled down just 33 years later to make way for a parking lot, the second Hotel Vancouver was a replacement for the original Hotel Vancouver which was built in 1888.
From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
Did you know that a commuter train used to run right through downtown Vancouver? I found out about it when I was over at Tom Carter’s studio checking out one of his amazing paintings. There it was, a train chugging across Hastings Street.
I’m writing a book about John F.C.B. Vance, the first forensic scientist in Vancouver, and this week I wrote about his first day of work as the new City Analyst. My book is non-fiction, but sometimes you need some creative license. My challenge was to get to get Vance from his house in Yaletown to Market Hall, a lovely long-gone gothic building on Westminster (Main Street) which doubled as City Hall.
The Canadian National Steamship terminal was a funky Spanish Colonial-style building that sat on the pier at the foot of Main Street from 1931 to 1983.
From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
Foot of Main Street
Before CRAB Park was created in 1987, there was a funky Spanish Colonial-style building that sat on the pier at the foot of Main Street.
Just before you hit the bike only section of Point Grey Road at Alma you may have noticed that the corner lot is missing a lovely old heritage house. The lot sold for $4 million last year, and of course was advertised with a demolition permit and plan for a “brand new 2,800 sq.ft. house on a fantastic view lot” attached.
