North Shore

I walked by the Navvy Jack House in West Vancouver just before Christmas and was delighted to see the amount of progress made since summer.

Urban Repurpose is a hoarders delight. It’s crammed full of furniture, books, music, art, books and panels from the St. Alice Hotel

North Vancouver’s Maplewood Flats is a wildlife sanctuary about one-third the size of Stanley Park. In the 1970s, it was home to a group of artists and environmentalists, and for a couple of weeks, it hosted the Dollarton Pleasure Faire.
Warning: some of Bruce Stewart’s photos contain nudity (and maybe your grandparents)

How does a house with a view and a West Vancouver postal code for under a million bucks sound? How about a third of an acre for under $250,000, minutes from the beach? Welcome to Passage Island, a 32-acre paradise sitting at the entrance to Howe Sound.

October 3, 1975, marks the 50th anniversary of the fire at Burrard Terminals which killed five men, severely burned twelve others, caused $8 million in damages, and destroyed the workhouse, track shed and a large part of the shipping gallery in the former Moodyville area.

The Lonsdale Quay fountain broke down in 2020 and cost $300,000 to fix. So we didn’t. Now we can gaze upon the $200 million Superyacht instead

If you’ve tried to drive on or off the North Shore, you’re likely no stranger to gridlock and road rage. An online petition was posted on change.org last week hoping to tap into that frustration. The petition is asking for a third crossing to take pressure off our aging bridges in the face of massive… Continue reading Third Crossing – Here we go again

If you live on the North Shore, chances are that you spend at least some of your summer at West Vancouver’s Ambleside Beach. Did you know that you are sitting on reclaimed land? Prior to 1965, much of this land was a swamp. In 1914, Ambleside was subdivided into lots and filled with makeshift homes… Continue reading A Brief History of Ambleside Beach

A Fred Hollingworth designed studio and carport, has been given a last-minute reprieve from the bulldozer, as the District of North Vancouver looks for a way to save the structures, according to an article by Brent Richter in the North Shore News this week. I spent quite a bit of time in that studio with… Continue reading Selwyn Pullan’s Studio

I had lunch at the Tomahawk Restaurant with my friend Bill Allman last week. A North Van resident, Bill first came here with his grandmother in 1969 when he was just a wee little lad, and he still drops by at least once, sometimes twice a week. Chuck Chamberlain, the second-generation owner—his dad Chick founded… Continue reading The Tomahawk Restaurant

In the mid-1970s Bruce Stewart took his camera down to North Vancouver’s Cates Park and captured these fabulous images of the annual Canoe Festival hosted by the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. The Whey-ah-Wichen (Cates Park) Canoe Festival kicks off today (July 4) in North Vancouver and runs until Sunday. It’s a chance to see one of the… Continue reading Whey-ah-Wichen Canoe Festival

On March 17, the District of North Vancouver unanimously approved a luxury townhome development on a chunk of land minutes from Edgemont Village. The North Shore News reported that the project included a community amenity contribution of $136,000 that could go to the district’s affordable housing fund. How generous. The 30,000 SF site was listed… Continue reading Shalal Gardens and the Disappearing West Coast Modern Houses

One of my favourite parts about writing this blog is getting comments from people that add to the story, and often take it in a whole new and unexpected direction. I get really excited when someone sends me a 100-year-old postcard or a photo of Vancouver that’s never been seen outside the family album. Maria… Continue reading A postcard from the Wigwam Inn

The Dollarton Pleasure Faire was held in the summer of ’72 at the Maplewood Mudflats in North Vancouver. It was a celebration of alternative living, an acknowledgement that its days were numbered, and it was timed to clash with the annual PNE.

Opening Night: North Vancouver’s Lonsdale Theatre opened on December 11, 1911, to a packed house and an eclectic line-up. The Orchestra kicked off with Titania, followed by two animated films. The Ernest Fisher Players followed with a performance of “The Devil” and opera singer Grace Maynard sang an aria. The finale was the Graham Miniature… Continue reading The Lonsdale Theatre: Then and Now

In March 1953, Steve Chizen was putting the final touches on the Cedar V Theatre on Lynn Valley Road. It would be North Vancouver’s third theatre—the Odeon sat at the corner of Lonsdale and 14th Avenue, and the Lonsdale Theatre that went up in 1911, would close forever in 1954. Steve, who previously managed the… Continue reading Lynn Valley’s Cedar V Theatre

Edgemont Village, North Vancouver. Then and Now: 1949-2023 I came across this photo from the North Vancouver Museum and Archives a while back. It shows a fairly ordinary looking building on Edgemont Boulevard taken in 1949. I headed off to Edgemont Village last week to see what we’d replaced it. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised… Continue reading Edgemont Village: Then and Now

Malcolm Lowry may be North Vancouver’s most talented, paranoid alcoholic. He wrote Under the Volcano, his most famous book, from a shack in Cates Park. Lowry died on June 26, 1957 at 48. Under the Volcano: Born in England, Lowry lived in Vancouver for more than 15 years. He had a variety of addresses on… Continue reading Malcolm Lowry’s North Vancouver

Part of the Shogun mini-series based on James book is being filmed in North Vancouver’s Princess Park. Story from Sensational Vancouver Princess Park: I was walking in Princess Park this morning and noticed that a film crew is preparing to shoot some scenes for a mini-series based on James Clavell’s 1975 book Shogun. While North… Continue reading Scenes from James Clavell’s Shogun filmed in Princess Park

Henry Switzer’s shocking pink house sat at Mathers and Taylor Way in West Vancouver. It was designed one Sunday and received attention from all over the world. Local Landmark: A few years ago, I wrote a story about a West Vancouver house that became a local landmark. Readers told me that they fondly remembered the… Continue reading Henry Switzer and his Shocking Pink House