Vancouver History

Excerpt from Sensational Vancouver When I write a history book there’s always one character that really captures my attention. In At Home with History it was Alvo von Alvensleben. In Sensational Victoria it was Spoony Sundher, and in Sensational Vancouver, it’s Vancouver City Police Detective Joe Ricci—a kick-arse cop from the old school. I got… Continue reading Joe Ricci’s Vancouver

I thought the Marine Building was built by the Guinness family until I started doing some research on this Art Deco icon—one of my favourite buildings in Vancouver.  And while the Guinness family did eventually own it, the developer was a local guy who made a fortune during Prohibition. From Sensational Vancouver Joe Hobbs: Joe… Continue reading The Marine Building – Built on Rum

Nikki Renshaw is throwing a party to celebrate her house’s 100th birthday. But first she wants to invite as many former residents, owners and relatives as she can find. Thanks to help from uber house detective James Johnstone she already knows their names, but she’s having trouble tracking people who had a connection to her… Continue reading Wanted: Past Residents for a 100th Birthday Bash

From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Every year Ross Dyck, general manager of the Sylvia Hotel opens about 600 handwritten letters from fans of Mister Got to Go, mostly kids in Grades one and two. And every year he personally answers every one of them. Dyck has worked in the hotel industry… Continue reading The Sylvia Hotel turns 100

I’ve been writing about murder houses for a few years now and I’ve turned up everything from a North Vancouver shop keeper butchered by the Black Hand, to a poet beaten to death in her East Vancouver home, to the quiet Colwood home where a Victoria man murdered his wife and then found her head… Continue reading Would you buy a murder house?

*See update Hobbit House sold I toured the Hobbit House this week. The South Cambie house is one of two story book cottages in Vancouver—a third is in West Van. The house has had a ton of media attention since it went up for sale, mostly speculation about its imminent demise. Realtor Mary Ellen Maasik… Continue reading Vancouver’s Hobbit House

Heritage Vancouver released its annual top 10 endangered site list today and it spells more bad news for the last of the West End mansions. The heritage conservation organization has flagged three properties: the Legg Residence at 1245 Harwood Street, Gabriola Mansion at 1531 Davie Street, and three houses that sit side by side at… Continue reading The Last of the West End Mansions

Spite Houses: A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Spite Houses and ran a picture of a lime green house painted with large purple dots. The back story was the owner had run afoul of the local heritage commission, was denied a building permit for a porch, and chose his colour scheme out of… Continue reading Chef Chuck Currie’s Polka Dotted House

From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History On Sunday February 1, 1981 shortly before 9:00 a.m., George Wright, a 70-something caretaker was working at the Englesea Lodge when he spotted fire coming from the building’s basement storage area. “There was a big boom and the fire rushed out at me. It threw me… Continue reading The Life and Death of the Englesea Lodge (1911-1981)

For the first half of last century, houses lined the water side of Beach Avenue, from the Burrard Street Bridge to Stanley Park From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History When I first started researching Alvo von Alvensleben some years ago I made several road trips to see how many of the buildings… Continue reading The Former Houses of Beach Avenue

It may be long gone, but at least Hogan’s Alley is finally getting the recognition that it deserves. As part of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s Places that Matter program, a plaque will be placed near the Hogan’s Alley Cafe at Gore and Union Streets at 2:00 Sunday February 24. Hogan’s Alley Project: The plaque and… Continue reading Hogan’s Alley and the Jimi Hendrix Connection

Barbara Howard received a Queen’s Jubilee Medal last week at Burnaby City Hall. Barbara turns 93 this year, and in the last couple of years she’s been festooned with a slew of honours including induction into both the Burnaby and the BC Sports Hall of Fame and a “Freedom of the Municipality” award from Belcarra… Continue reading Black History Month: Barbara Howard

I had lunch at the Baron’s Manor Pub recently. It’s a heritage house at the corner of 96th Avenue and 192nd Street in Port Kells, converted to a pub in 2005, and the new owners have given it a museum-like quality by filling it with old photos, newspaper articles and artifacts from one of its… Continue reading Spy House

It’s the 60th anniversary of the Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Woodward’s Foundation, and it’s my guess that unless you’re part of the medical community, you’ve never heard of it. It’s an amazing charitable organization with a mandate to improve the health of British Columbians, and gives away over a million dollars a year to do… Continue reading A brief history of the Woodward’s Department Store Building

Five amazing women who put their stamp on BC in unique ways. There is more information about them in At Home with History, Sensational Victoria and Sensational Vancouver, and in the books listed below. Capi Blanchet (1891–1961)   Capi Blanchet was found dead in 1961, slumped over her typewriter while writing a sequel to The Curve of… Continue reading Five Amazing Women of BC

Alvo von Alvensleben not only has a name you couldn’t make up, he’s one of the most fascinating characters in BC’s history. For some mysterious reason he has never rated a biography, but there is a chapter dedicated to him in my book At Home with History. I was just browsing my bookshelf and thinking… Continue reading The Mulligan Affair and other BC characters

For more stories about L.D. Taylor’s Vancouver see: At Home with History: the secrets of Greater Vancouver’s Heritage Homes Mayor Gregor Robertson held a press conference Friday announcing the City’s receipt of a $30-million anonymous donation to reopen Taylor Manor. After an extensive renovation and upgrade, the house will provide housing for 56 people with… Continue reading L.D. Taylor and the History of Taylor Manor

I met with Will Woods for coffee last week. Will is a young Brit who moved to Vancouver six years ago with his wife and little boy, and like a lot of us transplants, fell deeply in love with the history of the city. You may have seen him hunched over the card files at… Continue reading Forbidden Vancouver

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… Continue reading The Dominion Building

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.