Frits Jacobsen

Frits Jacobsen: Anatomy of an East Van House

by Eve Lazarus on June 3, 2023

Frits Jacobsen arrived in Vancouver in 1968. He was a prolific artist and captured some of Vancouver’s iconic and long-gone buildings such as Birks, the Englesea Lodge, and the Orillia on Robson Street. He also drew some that have survived. Two that I’ve seen are the Manhattan Apartments on Thurlow and Main Street’s Heritage Hall.

Frits also sketched modest family residences, and it’s always a thrill when one of these drawings lands in my inbox.

1117 East 10th:

Sean Johnston sent me Frits’s 1974 drawing of his grandparent’s house on East 10th Avenue. Francois and Denise Coulombe, a couple of francophones, moved to Vancouver via Edmonton in the 1950s. Coulombe is first listed in the city directories as the owner of the house in 1953. The house had surprisingly few owners over the years. Margaret Mills lived there from 1910 until 1920, after which Mary Clancy and her son Walter – a bartender at the Castle Hotel – owned the house until 1939. It changed hands a few more times before the Coulombe’s took up residence.

Sean, who is Emeritus Professor at the University of Glasgow, says his parents bought the house from his grandparents in the 1970s.

“My dad and mom began renovating the house in August 1974,” says Sean. “He was a plasterer by trade, and they did extensive repairs, plastering and converting the house to separate flats at that time. I was only peripherally involved but remember us collecting and using a 1910s console gramophone that had been in the basement.”

Sean’s dad, Harold, was a talented photographer and documented quite a bit of Vancouver and Burnaby in the 1960s and ‘70s. He became good friends with Frits, and often took Sean to visit the artist in his Chinatown studio.

Sean doesn’t think his parents ever lived in the house, and says it was likely sold after his father’s death in 1985. Amazingly, the house is still there and assessed at just under $2 million dollars.

Tags 1117 East 10th Avenue, Birks Building, Castle Hotel, Englesea Lodge, Frits Jacobsen, Harold H Johnston, Heritage Hall, Manhattan Apartments, Orillia, Sean Johnston

Vancouver’s Missing Buildings

by Eve Lazarus on January 8, 2022

Janet Stewart was going through her mother Edna’s things after she passed away recently and came across four sketches by Frits Jacobsen. They showed various Vancouver buildings in the late 1960s. Janet googled his name, came across a story by Jason Vanderhill on my blog, and kindly sent me photos.

Hornby and Nelson:

I posted Jacobsen’s drawing of the corner of Hornby and Nelson Streets from 1969 on my Facebook page Every Place has a Story. Barry Leinbach commented that in 1968 he was working at a part time job in the parking lot across the street (now part of the law courts). He saw smoke coming out of the house on the corner. “I phoned the fire department and fortunately they saved most of the house, but they never repaired it.” At the time, Barry studied at King Edward campus, which burned down in 1973.

It was the first time that Heather Lapierre had seen the sketch. She said that the house was once 918 Hornby Street and that her great grandparents lived there when they came to Vancouver in 1893. I jokingly asked if she had a photo with the family standing on the front porch. Turns out that she did.

From L-R Walter Thicke, Harold Thicke, Clara Thicke, Marjorie Thicke, Claude Thicke, Violet Thicke and Walter Thicke Junior (Heather’s grandfather). 918 Hornby Street, 1893, courtesy Heather Lapierre

“I had no idea that the house was still there in the 70’s. I wish I had known and could have seen it,” she says. “It was only when my mother passed in 2000 that I inherited all these photos that nobody had ever talked about or showed me, many of which are unlabeled and remain a mystery.”

False Creek:

Heather also sent a photo of her paternal great grandparents first home. “It was just listed in the directory as False Creek, but on the reverse, written by my grandmother, it says, ‘first home of James and Ellen Findlay. Bruce Findlay with the barrow. False Creek 1889’.” James beat out LD Taylor in 1912 to become mayor of Vancouver. “When he was mayor, James Findlay lived at 1428 Robson and my father was born in that house. I have never been able to find a photo of the Robson Street house. It would have been torn down to make way for the Landmark Hotel – now also demolished,” she says.

Buntzen:

Heather’s grandfather Matt Virtue was one of the first powerhouse operators at Buntzen on Indian Arm and she was born there. Her story is in Vancouver Exposed.

It makes me wonder how many family albums are holding photos like these. If you have one of an early Vancouver building or event and know where it was, please send a copy to eve@evelazarus.com and we’ll add it to Vancouver’s history.

1431 Robson Street (between Broughton and Nicola) is now the 12-storey Riviera Hotel recently assessed at $26.7 million. Frits Jacobsen, 1968 courtesy Janet Stewart

Tags Edna Stewart, Frits Jacobsen, James Findlay, Jason Vanderhill, Matt Virtue

The Art of Frits Jacobsen

by Eve Lazarus on August 4, 2018

Frits Jacobsen arrived in Vancouver in 1968 and drew many of Vancouver’s long since demolished heritage houses.

By Jason Vanderhill

I first heard about Frits Jacobsen, and saw his beautiful drawings in a post by Jason Vanderhill on his Illustrated Vancouver blog. Jason kindly allowed me to repost it here.

522 Shanghai Alley:

Frits Jacobsen studied at the Free Academy of Fine Arts in the Hague before arriving in Canada in 1959. He moved to Vancouver in 1968. I met him in East Vancouver a few years before his death in 2015 and was able to show him a photograph of the door to his studio at 522 Shanghai Alley taken in 1974. His studio was next door, just above the Sam Kee Building. Both buildings are still there.

Courtesy Harold Henry (Hal) Johnston, 1974

The photo reminded Frits of his hostility towards the postal code movement, though when I showed it to him, he shrugged it off as rather comical.

In December 1979, Vancouver Magazine ran a feature titled “Now you see them” by Ian Bateson and featuring some of Vancouver’s threatened heritage buildings. The drawings that accompanied the article were not credited but I was able to confirm with Frits that he drew them.

Englesea Lodge:

The Englesea Lodge, at the entrance to Stanley Park was the first to go, destroyed by fire in 1981.

Manhattan Apartments:

In 1979, the Manhattan Apartments at 784 Thurlow Street was also under threat, but fortunately has managed to survive.

Built in 1908 for industrialist W.L. Tait, the Manhattan was one of the city’s first apartment blocks and served as a model for many that came after. The building contains attractive stained-glass windows designed by A.P. Bogardus and made in Vancouver. Three of the windows overlook the ornate, pilastered main entrance to the building, although the two smaller ones that sat above both the main and Robson Street entrances are missing. Hopefully, they have been stored somewhere and not destroyed by vandals.

Orillia:

The VanMag article included Jacobsen’s drawing of the Orillia on Robson and Seymour—demolished in 1985 to make way for a new tower.

Heritage Hall:

Heritage Hall on Main Street rounds out the article. At the time, it had stood empty and neglected for two years and was in serious jeopardy. Thankfully, this was one battle that the heritage advocates won, and the hall survives to this day.

Frits was a remarkable artist and a true Vancouver character. If you happen to be going through the MCC thrift store in Surrey, you might just find his drawing of the missing Birks Building.

Tags 522 Shanghai Alley, Birks Building, Englesea Lodge, Frits Jacobsen, Heritage Hall, Jason Vanderhill, Manhattan Apartments, Orillia

Frits Jacobsen: Anatomy of an East Van House

1117 East 10th:

Related:

Vancouver’s Missing Buildings

Hornby and Nelson:

False Creek:

Buntzen:

Related:

The Art of Frits Jacobsen

By Jason Vanderhill

522 Shanghai Alley:

Englesea Lodge:

Manhattan Apartments:

Orillia:

Heritage Hall:

Related:

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1117 East 10th:

Related:

Hornby and Nelson:

False Creek:

Buntzen:

Related:

By Jason Vanderhill

522 Shanghai Alley:

Englesea Lodge:

Manhattan Apartments:

Orillia:

Heritage Hall:

Related:

Support

Click to read posts about:

Subscribe to Our Newsletter