It was a housing crisis that led to the development of Edgemont Village. This probably sounds familiar; a housing crisis due to a lack of affordable homes for families! But this crisis occurred just after the Second World War! Unlike today’s scarcity of land for new-builds, the post-war era offered up lots of land that turned into lots for sale at less than $1000 each! On the North Shore, undeveloped land in the 1940s covered mile upon mile of dense rain forest. Since that time, some lovely residential neighbourhoods have been developed and at the centre of it, Edgemont Village. Join our writer Anne-Marie Lawrence as she takes you on a guided tour of Edgemont Village, both past and present.

In February, 1929, Warren Leach Clegg, a British immigrant, received the approval to build a house at 1591 Haywood. It was completed in 5 short months for the princely sum of $3000. Warren, his wife Margaret and their 4 children moved in on July 12, 1929. Dodging the stock market crash by mere months, it is possible that had they waited to build, the house might have been a lot smaller or less ornate or might never have been built at all.

Ninety-three years later, in February, 2022, the board of North Shore Heritage stood on the front lawn with the new owners, Meghan and Darrin DeCosta, contemplating the next phase of life for this historically significant home. This would involve the restoration of the building and the addition of gentle density in the form of a garden suite and a rental above the garage. Construction took 13 months and cost just a little more (!) than the original $3000, with the end-result being the retention and legal protection of this charming Craftsman home. While this sounds easy, none of it would have happened without the vision, the persistence, the creativity and the dedication of the DeCostas to the project and their goals of retaining historically significant features while upgrading to a more environmentally sustainable home. It is a project worth sharing! And if you read beyond that, I also snuck in some Clegg family history!