Vancouver History

There are some beautiful homes on the Vancouver Heritage House Tour this year—a couple of old Shaughnessy manors, a quirky turreted terra cotta and stone house in Mount Pleasant, and a colorful Edwardian on Kitchener Street, but the one I am most interested in is a tenement building in the DTES. The house at 313 Alexander… Continue reading Vancouver’s Early Red Light District and the Heritage House Tour

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

As a journalist it always fascinates me where my colleagues find their passions. For me it’s how people connect with their houses, for Tom Hawthorn it’s their deaths. And, while some of the people featured in Deadlines: obits of memorable British Columbians are well known, most often it’s the ordinary life that’s the quirkiest and… Continue reading Deadlines–obits of memorable British Columbians

Known for decades as Bernie “Whistling” Smith because he whistled while he patrolled the streets for the VPD Bernie Smith once told me a story about busting Strathcona bootlegger Wally “Blondie” Wallace in the 1940s. Blondie was a neighbourhood hero, dodging the cops by night and teaching local kids to box in the basement of… Continue reading Whistling Bernie Smith and the Penthouse Nightclub

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

Definition of “Noir” from the Free Dictionary: “Of or relating to a genre of crime literature featuring tough, cynical characters and bleak settings. Suggestive of danger or violence. Of or relating to the film noir genre.” When I wrote At Home with History, the 1930s Strathcona seemed a natural place to start. I talked to… Continue reading Vancouver Noir

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.

For more stories about Chinatown see: At Home with History: the secrets of Greater Vancouver’s Heritage Homes Last October the Feds designated Vancouver’s Chinatown a National Historical Site. In November, the National Geographic named the Dr. Sun yat-sen Gardens one of the top 10 city gardens in the world. It’s long overdue recognition for one… Continue reading In the year of the dragon: the changing face of Chinatown

Want a conversation stopper at your next party? Just bring up the impending real estate meltdown in Vancouver –the one where house prices implode. You’ll be mocked and told how interest rates are at historically low levels and you’ll hear all about those swarms of filthy rich Chinese flooding our borders. Then, they’ll tell you… Continue reading Seriously–you think your house price won’t tank?