The Villa Maris, a pink beacon in the skies of West Vancouver, is one of the most iconic modernist apartment buildings in the Lower Mainland and is a rare Canadian example of New Sensualism, a Miami Beach offshoot of Modernism. From the outside, it screams Miami Modern with its curved wall of parabolic arches and hot pink colour! But what most people don’t know is that the inside is even more “wow”, with many of its original features including a lobby, staircase and pool that was influenced by the Hollywood Regency and Miami Modernism Styles. It’s easy to envision Elizabeth Taylor or Cary Grant sashaying through the lobby, posing by the pool or theatrically descending the staircase! Join us for a virtual walk through the interior!
North Shore Tent Homes
While researching for another blog many months ago, I was perusing the 1913 North Vancouver City Directory. I noticed that, for many individuals, their home was listed as “tent”. It surprised me that a tent was permanent enough to be listed as a person’s home. I was curious to know more about the appearance of these tents, so I visited the websites of the North Vancouver and West Vancouver Archives and entered the search word “tent”. And this is when I went down the proverbial rabbit hole into the warren of tent homes and some of the fascinating families who occupied them. As I read about the families, what struck me was that they were mostly Western European immigrants, who left a civilized life behind to come to the new world to live … in a tent! Clearly, they all came with a sense of adventure but in the end, their best attribute would be perseverance! Life in the new world was definitely not easy.
Sidetracked on a Side Street
The Pacific Great Eastern Railway, despite its name, was a Western company. Incorporated in Vancouver in 1912, it was founded to create a railroad between Prince George and the docks of North Vancouver via Squamish and the Howe Sound. Decades passed before this goal was fully achieved due to a section of challenging, mountainous terrain and ongoing financial challenges. It became known as the Province’s Great Expense to Prince George Eventually. However, the story of the PGE Railway is one of ambition and perseverance that created an important, historic route along the waters of the Burrard Inlet and Howe Sound, remnants of which still exist today.
Blackadder Goes Forth. Not ‘Edmund’, but Henry!
Mention the name ‘Blackadder’ and people think of Rowan Atkinson’s character in the BBC comedy series. The final episode of the last series, Blackadder Goes Forth, is known for its final scene, called “Goodbyeee,” which sees ‘Captain Blackadder’ and his side-kick, ‘Baldrick’ going “over the top” into the smoke filled no man’s land of the First World War trenches, presumably to their deaths. Crazy as that sounds, there was a real Captain Blackadder from Dundee, Scotland, who was awarded the Military Cross and whose older brother Henry had a very special connection to North Vancouver.