According to the West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture, Lewis Construction Company, headed by Bob Lewis, was the most successful design-build firm in the post war building boom that blanketed West Vancouver with hundreds of mostly post and beam structures. But who was Bob Lewis? A Google search of his name yields absolutely nothing. No Wikipedia entry. No biographical account. How could this be for a man of such fame and success? Well, I was bound and determined to find out more so I donned my gumshoes, charged up my electric car and embarked on what I now call My Bob Lewis Odyssey. Sit back and enjoy the ride!
1st Step – Tour de West Vancouver!
The West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture documents homes built between 1945 and 1975 and showcases the West Coast Modern style that became synonymous with West Vancouver. Of the 317 homes in this inventory, 114 were designed and built by Bob Lewis’ company, Lewis Construction. That more than one third of these architecturally significant homes were built by Bob Lewis underscores just how prolific a builder he was! I personally visited 33 of these homes and was elated to find that 21 are still standing … although a couple were admittedly in pretty rough shape. Some of my finds include the following:
1070 Lawson was built in 1952 with the construction being overseen by Bob Lewis himself, who resided with his family for one year at 1060 Lawson right next door. That house still stands and represents a whole different style of architecture of that time. It is truly worth a trip to see it! Once the construction on 1070 Lawson was complete, Bob Lewis and his family moved in and lived there until 1957. The current owners told me they still have the original plans and that this was the first home where Bob Lewis experimented with a thinner version of the roof beams, presumably to save costs, as that was his design philosophy – simple, functional and inexpensive.
View of 1070 Lawson with its cantilevered porch roof.
2755 Skilift Place was built in 1958 along with 3 other homes on Skilift Place. Unfortunately, the homes at 2745 and 2765 Skilift Place have been demolished and the one at 2655 Skilift has been transformed into a Mediterranean villa. But the house at 2755 Skilift is a pristine example of a Bob Lewis post and beam house, that sits on the crest of a hill, oriented to a south facing view, with horizontal board cladding, ribbon windows and a cantilevered deck on the south side.
2755 Skilift Place, home and office of Bob Lewis from 1958-1961.
The property contains what seems to be the original rockery garden with holly, rhododendrons and pine trees and the original vintage address sign.
This house was the personal residence of the Lewis family from 1958-1961 and it was also the business address of Lewis Construction as seen on the architectural plans for 93 Bonnymuir Drive. Presumably as a relatively new company, money was tight and Mr. Lewis could not justify the expense of a separate office.
Source: A Survey of Residential Post-and-Beam Construction in Greater Vancouver, 1957-1958, by V.F. Lyman
1124 Eyremount was built in 1964 and housed the Lewis family from 1965 until at least 1968. The house is amazing for its visible Japanese influence, present in the bamboo cladding, and its unusual carved roof ridge beam, decorative chimney and octagonal windows. The current owner, who has been there for only 2 years, told me that the interior is in pristine original condition!
Close up of the bamboo siding (now painted) and the octagonal window at 1124 Eyremount.
93 Bonnymuir Drive was built in 1956 and was one of the Parade of Homes show homes. The Parade of Homes was conceived by a local developer who convinced a number of builders to showcase other modern styles such as the rancher and the split level at 99, 103 and 105 Bonnymuir, while the home at 93 Bonnymuir showcased Lewis’ post and beam construction. All of these homes have been demolished except this Bob Lewis home which features vertical cladding, a prominent chimney and retaining wall planter. I was so glad to see that this Bob Lewis home stood the test of time!
93 Bonnymuir with its prominent chimney and retaining wall planter.
6670 Madrona was built in 1961 and sits above Horseshoe Bay with 4 other Lewis Construction homes just down the street at 6425, 6450, 6685 and 6610 Madrona. While the home and garden at 6670 Madrona are beautiful, what was most thrilling for me was to finally meet an “original” owner of a Bob Lewis home! The owner confirmed what I had read, which was that Lewis Construction, and indeed Bob Lewis himself, worked closely with their buyers to customize each home. She also told me that Bob Lewis was a good man and lovely to work with but that she had to be assertive to get him to agree to some of her design ideas; her background in art was key towards earning his respect. She said they had some arguments and there were a lot of “yes-buts” but that the outcome was a lovely, functional home where she and her husband brought up 3 kids.
A 2-storey Bob Lewis home at 6670 Madrona.
6425 Madrona was built in 1968 and sits on top of a large rock. This quote from a February 19, 1960 article in the Lions Gate Times describes why the post and beam construction style was well suited to this type of lot - “As level land became more scarce, and people bought hillside and rock strewn building lots, people looked to the imaginative Bob Lewis and his famous post and beam house to provide flexibility”. The post and beam construction methods were easier to adapt to irregular terrain as they needed only footings and not a foundation.
View of 6425 Madrona perched on the rocky cliffs of West Vancouver.
I was lucky enough to get a tour of the house and the decks, where one has the most spectacular views of the Gulf Islands to the south, the Howe Sound to the north and Batchelor Bay below. Although the house has been modified, many of the key Bob Lewis features remain and the addition was done in keeping with the post and beam style.
The interior of 6425 Madrona with just a tiny fraction of their view of the Howe Sound in the distance.
My Tour de West Vancouver was key to understanding the design philosophy of Bob Lewis. I realized that despite his main goal of building inexpensive houses, there was nothing “cookie cutter” about the Bob Lewis post and beam style. While most were 1 storey with a flat roof, there were also 2 storey homes and some with low pitch gable roofs. Exterior wood cladding was commonplace but sometimes it was horizontal and other times, vertical. Other variations included the presence of cantilevered front porch canopies and cantilevered balconies.
But understanding more about post and beam architecture and the style of Bob Lewis still did not answer my original question as to who Bob Lewis was. So, I decided it was time to book an appointment at the West Vancouver Archives.
2nd Step – Visit to the West Vancouver Archives
Upon my arrival at the archives, I was greeted by the archivist, Carol Howie, who had already pulled a small folder of material on Bob Lewis. However, although it was small in size, the contents made me feel like I hit the jackpot as I was able to finally put a face to the name, Bob Lewis!
Photo of Bob Lewis and his wife, Evelyn, from an article in the Lions Gate Times (August 27, 1959), courtesy of West Vancouver Archives.
I found two articles from the Lions Gate Times (Aug 27, 1959 and Feb 19, 1960) that provided me with the following tidbits of information:
Bob and his wife Evelyn were born in Vancouver, attended King Edward High and waited until Bob turned 21 to get married around 1939 or 1940.
By 1959, Lewis Construction had built 400 homes in the Lower Mainland since Lewis Construction was founded in 1954. They were building 100+ homes a year by 1959.
Evelyn was very involved in the operation of Lewis Construction. No wonder the 1959 article captions included one that reads, “Husband & Wife Team Pioneered Post and Beam into a Boom”.
In the early years, the Lewis family had to live in many of the homes that Bob Lewis built because insurance companies would not carry a mortgage on flat-roofed homes. The Lewis family had to wait until a cash buyer came along. Eventually the CMHC allowed mortgages to be taken out on these homes. (CORRECTION: the daughter of Bob Lewis feels this might not be true as they lived in many of their houses for many years. She remembers moving to new homes because her father found a new lot and wanted to try out a new design or feature. The family never resenting moving frequently but rather did so with excitement)
Bob and Evelyn had three children in 1959; Peter, 18, Bonnie, 14 and Sherry, 8 and at that time, lived on Skilift Road
Conventional homes cost $10.50/square foot to build while a Lewis home typically cost $8.50/square foot.
Lewis Construction employed a complete engineering staff where every detail, down to the last nail, was discussed with the home builder
The archives had also been gifted many back copies of the prestigious large format Western Homes & Living magazines and 3 of them featured stories and some amazing photos of Bob Lewis homes at 580 Stevens, 3765 Southridge and 6685 Madrona Place. At that time, a Western Living feature was essentially free advertising for the builder.
“The House That Grew”, Western Homes & Living, September, 1964.
I was disappointed to find that the home at 3765 Southridge is gone and the one at 6685 Madrona appears to have been significantly altered but was elated to find that the home at 580 Stevens is clearly still the original home, although each chimney now includes a copper cap. The article on 580 Stevens entitled “The House That Grew” begins, “A house with a growing family to shelter often has to adapt itself to meet the changing needs of the household. The John Wilfert home in West Vancouver faced and overcame this problem not once, but twice, yet managed to retain it’s basic integrity. Designed and built by Bob Lewis when the Wilferts’ two daughters were young, the house was originally a one-storey building with a flat roof and double carport out front.”
Source: “A House That Grew”, Western Homes and Living, September 1964.
Home at 580 Stevens Drive, once featured in the Western Living Magazine
3rd Step – Directory Research
Armed with the knowledge that Bob Lewis was born in Vancouver, I searched the directories to find out more about his background. I learned that he was born around 1917, was a student in 1935, living at 838 West 8th in Vancouver with a Mrs. Stella Lewis and Audrey Lewis who I am guessing was his mother and sister. By 1937, he had a job as a cleaner working at the Vancouver General Hospital. 1939 brought big changes for Bob as he was promoted to become an orderly at the VGH, married his high school sweetheart Evelyn Loretta and together they lived at 4033 St George in East Vancouver. He remained an orderly until 1943, when he joined the WWII “home front” efforts working at the Burrard Dry Dock in North Vancouver as a shipyard worker and welder.
Our first clue about his eventual career path is provided in the 1946 directory, when his profession was listed as Carpenter. Bob and Evelyn made the big jump to West Vancouver in 1949, moving into 2195 Jefferson. By 1950, he was listed as a builder and by 1954, he was listed as the President of Lewis Construction. In 1976, his status is listed as “Retired” and by 1989, there is no longer a listing for either Bob or Evelyn Lewis which could mean a number of things including that he passed away, they moved away or something completely different!
Using the Directories, I was also able to track the addresses of the personal residences of Bob and Evelyn Lewis. During the 30 years they spent in West Vancouver, they lived in 7 different homes built by Lewis Construction with their last home at 1416 Chartwell (now demolished) as their longest place of residence, where they lived for approximately 15 years. Many of their other residences are featured in the sections above and I would think have more heritage value for having housed the actual builder and his family!
I was able to locate an obituary for Evelyn Lewis who passed away at the age of 89 in 2008. The obituary mentioned that she was a vital support to her husband Bob as he pioneered the design and construction of post and beam homes on the North Shore and that hundreds of Lewis Homes are a legacy of their teamwork. On a fun note, it also mentions that Evelyn and Bob were founding members of “Mr. & Mrs.” Saturday Evening Dance Club.
Further searching online revealed that Lewis Construction vertically integrated eventually owning their own realty company called Lewis Realty Ltd. Due to the sheer numbers of homes they built, their ads in the realty section of local papers were frequent.
Lewis Realty listing three homes in one ad.
In 1987, it seems that the company encountered financial difficulties and went into Bankruptcy Protection. And that is where I lost the trail of breadcrumbs. I tried to locate his children and grandchildren to learn more but was unable to do that. I was saddened to learn that such a leading-edge and innovative company met with such a devastating end.
However, if we set aside this sad news and focus on the positive, we can conclude that Bob Lewis was a smart, innovative, driven individual who, along with his wife Evelyn, are largely responsible for the expansion of the post and beam building phenomenon that eventually became part of the West Coast Modern architectural movement. The homes of Lewis Construction were regularly featured in Western Living and received numerous accolades including many “Home of the Year” awards from the Canadian Housing Design Council and Chatelaine Magazine. In addition, his focus on building affordable homes meant that he made home ownership possible for the average family. It is clear that the popularity of his homes was unmatched in that time. A quote from the February 19th, 1960 article in the Lions Gate Times sums it up perfectly – “400 home owners cannot be wrong”!
And so my Bob Lewis Odyssey ends! But it is my sincerest hope that someone can take my work forward, undertaking a more detailed inventory of the remaining Bob Lewis homes in West Vancouver and elsewhere in the Lower Mainland. It will be important to educate current and prospective owners as well as realtors on the history, and unique features of a Bob Lewis home so that his legacy as the original “Bob the Builder” can live on!
Fun Facts
Post and Beam is a system of construction, not a style or design, that has been in use for 1000 years in England and Japan.
In post and beam construction, beams spaced 4-12’ and supported by posts replaced the traditional bearing walls in conventional frames.
Large areas of glass could be installed between the posts without using heavy lintels. These bands of windows (called ribbon windows) became a common feature of a Post and Beam house, often taking up an entire wall and sometimes even wrapping around a corner.
Post and Beam homes featured flat roofs in order to allow generous roof overhangs to protect the expanse of windows against rain and the heat of the summer sun.
Cantilevered elements such as decks and roof canopies gave post and beam buildings even more of a horizontal emphasis.
Roof overhangs and cantilevered deck at 2755 Skilift Place.
In the post-war desire for cheap but modern homes, the functionality and versatility of post and beam construction suited the demand for an open floor plan, more natural light and cheaper homes.
Lewis Construction employed 80 skilled men on a permanent basis in order to build 100+ homes a year in its heyday.
Other architects of Bob Lewis’ time included Arthur Erickson, Duncan McNab, Fred Hollingsworth, Charles Thompson, Robert Berwick, Ned Pratt and Ron Thom, but none were as prolific as Bob Lewis.
He started 10 years after Berwick, Thornton and Binning but grew the adoption rate of post and beam exponentially.
There are several Bob Lewis homes in the North Vancouver Survey of Significant Buildings, but I have not made a tour yet of the North Vancouver addresses to see if they have stood the test of time. West Vancouver however remains the main hub of Bob Lewis homes in the Greater Vancouver area, both then and now.
Post and beam homes are inherently economical for a number of reasons: a) the roof planks are nailed directly into the beams b) there was no need for any type of ceiling finish material since the ceiling beams were exposed, c) there was no need for internal partition walls to carry the loads of the floors and roof since the posts and beams hold up the house. Overall, these design features meant that there was less material to purchase and less handling of materials by the carpenter.
ADDENDUM (October 3, 2021)
Carol Howie, a former NSH board member and archivist with West Vancouver Archives, sent in a copy of Bob and Evelyn’s marriage certificate which confirmed that Bob was born on March 21, 1917 and was indeed living at 838 West 8th and working as an orderly when they got married. The marriage was however on August 28, 1938 and not in 1939, as stated above. His full name was Robert Gordon Lewis.
