I was riding my bike along Point Grey Road this week and snapped a few photos of the Peace House. It’s an interesting looking place, and as it turns out, has quite the past.
3148 Point Grey Road:
It was built in 1908 by R.D. Rorison who was an early real estate agent and developer. His company bought the English Bay Cannery in 1905, tore it down and used the wood to build part of the house.
In 1965, the house attracted an anti-nuclear group who were protesting the storage of nuclear weapons at the Comox RCAF Base. The leader was a 22-year-old UBC student named Peter Light, who spent most of his time organizing a protest march from Victoria to Comox. The house became widely known as the Peace House and freaked out its more conservative neighbours.
From a May 21, 1965 Province article: “The city has lost patience with the Peace House. The zoning appeal board has rejected a presentation that a group of bearded, sandal-wearing peace demonstrators who occupy the house at 3148 Point Grey Road should be classed as a philanthrophic organization.”
And on that same day in the Vancouver Sun: “The house is run down, dirty shirts hang in the window, fires have been started in the middle of the front room floor using chairs for fuel, and that newspaper reports of free love in upstairs rooms are true because they could look in and watch. They are degenerating the outlook and spirit of young Canadians.”
The Afterthought:
A couple of years back when I was chatting to Jerry Kruz about his exploits as a 17-year-old promoter, he told me he lived in a room at the Peace House while he was bringing acts to the Afterthought. He brought in Country Joe and the Fish, the Steve Miller Band, and in 1966, paid the Grateful Dead $500 to play there. The band also crashed at the Peace House. According to Heritage Vancouver Society, so did other cultural icons of the day such as Timothy Leary, Baba Ram Dass and Allen Ginsberg.
In 1968, the house played a role in Robert Altman’s thriller That Cold Day in the Park. Grant Lawrence has a great story about Ginger Baker, the legendary drummer from Cream staying there. “It was essentially a crash paid for local and wandering hippies and touring bands,” writes Grant.
Michael Kluckner tells me that Jeannette and her husband, renowned artist Jeff Wall, lived at the Peace House around 1970. “The house came up for sale then for $17,000, but had no takers partly because it had a huge sawdust-burning furnace that needed replacing,” says Michael. A woman from Toronto bought it, and according to rumour, hired architect Arthur Erickson to do some remodelling.”
The six-bedroom house is currently assessed at $4.4 million.
© All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Eve Lazarus.
Further Reading:
- Michael Kluckner’s Vancouver Remembered
- Grant Lawrence: The Rise and Fall of Canada’s Hippie Mecca
- A Short History of the 2400 Motel
17 comments on “Vancouver’s Peace House and the Grateful Dead”
Nice story.
Thank you!
Hi Eve. Was the Murder of Candy Gail Knowles in 1973 or4 from Gunshots in Vancouver a Cold Case.???? She was only 16 or 17 years old.
Roland
1941.pearlharbour@gmail.com
She was shot by her boyfriend who then killed himself
I ran into Peter Light in Marrakesh around 1970 when he was leading a bus full of paying tourists on a road trip across the Sahara Desert. It was a modified bus, with two levels one for sleeping the other for storage. They all stayed in the Municipal Campground in Marrakesh while Peter and my partner ran around collecting supplies for the trip. The bus left once they were supplied, heading for Tiznit and Goulimine and then the crossing. The bus had started in London and had collected the passengers from there. I have no idea how Peter got involved but it seemed like a usual thing for him to do… I think I saw an Obituary Notice for Peter in the Globe and Mail recently…certainly early this year.
I just looked it up: https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/coastreporter/name/peter-light-obituary?id=40387180 Thanks for adding to his story
Enjoy your articles on line as well as your books. Keep up the great stories of our city and area THANKS…….Ellis
Thanks so much for your kind words Ellis!
Wow, I know this house well from the outside. It’s so cool to hear some of its history!!
Also interesting is the line in the ad: “lots in Belgravia”. I have never once heard this name in reference to Vancouver. Fid the developer just make it up? How long did it stick?
In the Winter of ’67 I moved from a small town in the Interior to live with my Mom & John in Kitsilano, so I would have been about 10 at the time. We lived on the top floor of 1872 W.3rd and at the time Mom & John owned The Hippogryff store down on W.Georgia & Stanley Park. Mom would tell me stories about The Peace House, pre ’66. The wonderful gatherings of people there, but more of a Folk Scene during those times. Sam Perry living there of Addle Chromish notoriety & Mom babysitting for his children. But the times they were a changing ..
I kind of remember visiting the Peace House, mainly because it was different & so were the people compared to the rest of that neighborhood.. lol For me growing up in Kits at the time, all the great people that lived in the house on W. 3rd & in the neighborhood. All the special & fantastic people from The Blind Owl, all the assorted characters from 4th Ave. It was a Very Magical Place & Time. Thank-you so much for your story & memories, Eve
And, thanks so much for dropping by and adding to the story!
I’m in the upper turret as I type this, July 18, 2023. I practice bass guitar here ( we’re staying here for a month or two ). So cool to know the Dead crashed here! My wife’s cousin’s husband owns this heritage house. Thx for the info.
I love that my little story reached you in the Peace House. And I’m extremely jealous, I want to write a book in a turret.
Great article! Lois (Spence) Milsom bought this house and developed Vancouver’s first townhouses across the street on Point Grey Rd, designed by Arthur Erickson. I am told that for a while Lois rented part of the house to Bill & Martine Reid.
I did not know about the other hippie era history, which is wild!
Thanks for adding to the story!
Here is a photo of the city of Vancouver plaque that used to be across the street from the Peace House on a street light pole. It has some interesting information. It disappeared when the city rebuilt the street and side walks creating the non through road Point Grey Road Boulevard a few years ago.
In the basement of the house you can still see the paint from the English Bay Cannery on one edge of the prices cut up and recycled to build the Peace House in 1908. Recycling lumber has been taking place for a long time!
Loved this story. As people tap in to add valuable info, is just fabulous.