The story of Fred Hollingsworth and his house appears in Sensational Vancouver:
While Arthur Erickson, Ned Pratt and Ron Thom have imprinted their West Coast style of architecture all over Vancouver, Fred Thornton Hollingsworth is the architect most responsible for the look of post war North Vancouver. Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, Hollingsworth met the legend in 1951 and turned down a job offer to work with him, opting instead to develop his own style.
2800 Colwood Drive, North Vancouver
Dominica Babicki grew up in a Hollingsworth house and when the opportunity to buy another came up, she and partner Alastair Moore, a green building consultant, got out their cheque book.
Hollingsworth called their Colwood Drive house Neoteric—an economical house with a simple post and beam construction and a flat roof with a clerestory to bring in light to the interior spaces. Hollingsworth set this house at the rise of a slope and terraced the front yard with a series of rock retaining walls. He contracted E.A. Peck to build the house in 1950 for Leslie McNicol a salesman at the Mann Litho Company at a cost of $10,000.
Babicki and Moore have since transformed their home into a smart eco-residence in keeping with the spirit and character of the original house.
Modern Heritage Renovation
The owners found much of the design’s clarity and materials buried under layers of drywall, laminate flooring and paint. Gradually, they stripped away the materials to expose the original design. At the same time they improved upon the overall health, energy efficiency and environmental performance of the house with green materials, solar hot water heating, FSC-certified cedar siding and LED lighting.
Hollingsworth, now 93, still lives in the house he designed in 1946 on Ridgewood Drive. Twenty years later he told Canadian Architect why he wanted to stay in a small architectural practice: “Because we’re romantics and it is to me exciting to see a family raised in a fine building they have lived in since the day they were born.”
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9 comments on “Fred Thornton Hollingsworth”
[…] made me want to revisit some of his architecture, because when it comes to post-war architecture, Fred Hollingsworth is a rock star. He invented the Neoteric style where Lee, Bev and their older brother grew […]
My mother’s maiden name is Hollingsworth and her great grandmother was a Thornton. I would love to know if Mr. Fred Thornton Hollingsworth and I are kin!
How interesting about the Thornton/Hollingsworth connection. Have you read his book Living Spaces – it’s been a while so I don’t remember if it had autobiographical information that would help you but it may, and it’s in the library. Do you live in Vancouver?
[…] challenging terrain and tight budgets were also the inspiration and career starters for Thom, Fred Hollingsworth and Arthur […]
Hi Eve, great blog.
We had the good fortune to buy a Hollingsworth Neoteric when our kids were infants so your quote form Mr. Hollingsworth rang true for us.
“…. it is to me exciting to see a family raised in a fine building they have lived in since the day they were born.” It has had a great influence on all of us.
So happy to hear that! Thanks for dropping by
Hi Eve,
Glad to come across your blog today.
I grew up in 2800 Colwood Drive! It was the early 60s.
My Dad loved designing, building, etc. Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright he added different modern elements to the house, e.g., stained glass panel beside the front door, that made our house so special.
Our family has so many wonderful memories from this house 🙂
Lucky you, what a fabulous house! Glad you found the post, thanks for dropping by.
[…] made me want to revisit some of his architecture, because when it comes to post-war architecture, Fred Hollingsworth is a rock star. He invented the Neoteric style where Lee, Bev and their older brother grew […]