Vancouver Heritage House Tour

Win two tickets to the Vancouver Heritage House Tour on Sunday June 3rd. Simply leave a comment at the end of this blog saying which building you’d like to get inside (could be a mansion such as Casa Mia, Shannon or Gabriola, or a commercial building such as the Dominion Building or BC Sugar, or even a First Nation’s church such as St. Paul’s in North Van). I’ll be drawing a random winner at noon Friday June 1st.

Heritage house diehards know that this is the 10th anniversary of the Vancouver Heritage House tour, and if you’ve been a regular over the years, you’ve seen everything from converted hydro-substations to multi-million dollar estates and warehouses.

This year there’s a peek inside two 100-year-old mansions, an old bank building that’s now a coffee shop, and a café in what was once a local grocery store.

The VHF’s Diane Switzer, says the tour has evolved from pretty houses in pretty neighbourhoods to creative uses of old spaces. “What we’ve learned is that people are curious to see other people’s creative use of buildings and they get a real charge out of seeing what others are doing,” she says.

And, while I get a guilty kick out of seeing inside these Shaughnessy mansions, sometimes it’s that quirky little miner’s cottage that really captures my attention.

This year, I’m really excited about seeing the Victorian house on Atlantic Street in Strathcona. The house dates back to 1904, when Atlantic was called Grove Avenue and was designed and built by John Pennyway. City directories show that the first resident Edward Hunter, an engineer, lived in the house until around 1908, when the Pennyway family moved in. The city directories show the family still living there in 1947.

When the current owners were removing layers and layers of wallpaper they discovered stencilling and freehand painting on almost every surface in the house. The thick paint was applied directly to the original plaster walls. When they contacted the Pennyway’s youngest daughter, she told them that the stencils were likely created by a close friend of her parents—a house painter from the same region in Italy that the Pennyway’s had come from, and who had stayed with them when he first immigrated to Canada.

Switzer says that the current owners have retained much of his work which includes floral motifs, fruit bowls, pineapple and a fish that circles a light fixture in a second floor bedroom.

This year’s self-guided heritage house tour includes a church converted to strata units, Shaughnessy mansions, Cedar Cottage homes, a restored corner store, and an old wood frame bank building with strata units to the rear. Tickets are $40 plus tax. To purchase tickets or for more information: call 604 264 9642 or visit Vancouver Heritage Foundation.

 Don’t forget to leave your name in the comment section below for a chance to win two tickets.