The two-storey Commercial Block at East 8th and St. Andrews in North Vancouver is getting a makeover. New owner Brad Hodson plans to return it to 1912 with a large coat of Strathcona red paint trimmed with Victorian peridot and Edwardian buff accents.
For the past four years Brad has driven by 277 East 8th on the way to his wine making business at 2nd and Lonsdale. One day he noticed a For Sale sign. He took possession in June.
“Six months later I’m broke and own a big blue building,” he says.
Brad paid $840,000 for the building and figures with a lot of work and another $150,000 he’ll have Valley Estates up and running in there by Christmas.
The building was designed and built by John Dierssen, Jr. a contractor who also built the 1911 Colonial Apartments a few blocks away. According to the street directories, Dierssen only kept the building for a year or two, and by 1921 it was the St. Andrews Grocery Store. Fred J. Keates, another grocer bought it some time in the 1920s and by the 1930s, it was JB Wilson Meats, a butcher’s shop and home.
It’s a sturdy building carved out of the rain forest a century ago. The roofline is unusual, as are the Edwardian elements and four corner turrets which cap two quite lovely spacious apartments with large bay windows and stellar views of Vancouver.
“I always thought I’d like to restore a house and I’ve always had this thing about turrets—now I own a building with four of them.”
Brad’s been working on the building for months. When he stripped off the aluminum cladding at the front, he uncovered the original pediment. At some point workers had ripped off the structure leaving just the paint mark. He can’t find any old photos, but he’s working to come up with a replica of the original pediment.
As part of his deal with the City of North Vancouver, Brad had to take out a heritage designation on the building. And, while that opens up some opportunities for funding and grants, it also puts him at the mercy of the City and its crazy timetable.
“I know a lot about heritage and I’m very motivated to bring it back to what I think it would have been like in 1912,” he says. “Part of my whole plan is to restore it, put my business in it to save a whole bunch of money, make it film friendly and rent it out to film companies.”
When he’s finished there will be large windows along St. Andrews, a refinished original fir floor, and an open concept production area with bottling stations.
If you’re wondering why the building was painted that car-stopping shade of blue, the story Brad heard was that an Asian family who lived there in the ‘70s decided it was a way to thumb their nose at City Hall. Brad plans to strip the marine paint off with a chemical peel in the spring.
Canada’s Historic Places has technical information on the building and you can follow Brad’s progress at his blog. We would both love to hear of any stories or see photos associated with the building over the last century.
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3 comments on “Valley Estates headed for heritage digs”
[…] haven’t been past the blue building for several months, so it was a nice surprise to drop in for coffee and a veggie panini at Andrews […]
Well, first thing make sure you have an idea on what to do with a property you are buying. Being broke after buying a property is not very practical.
I’m not sure it’s possible not to be broke after buying property in metro Vancouver!