West Vancouver

Spuraway Heritage Gem!

Jenny Morgan, one of our North Shore Heritage bloggers, and myself share more than a name. We also love old buildings, photography, gardening and on June 21, 2022, we both independently “discovered” Spuraway Gardens at 235 Keith Road in West Vancouver. We missed each other by a few hours but were both super excited to have found this Heritage Gem! Spuraway Gardens is a townhouse development in West Vancouver that was part of the 1960’s “Garden Apartment” urban development trend. But when the developers bought the property, it came with an even older piece of history – Spuraway Lodge, a 1911 log cabin with an impressive list of famous owners/local socialites, who contributed to the development of the North Shore and the lodge itself. If only those walls could talk!

West Vancouver: Fodder for Len Norris

When you look at the house at 1220 Queens in West Vancouver, what do you see? A beautiful example of the West Coast Modern architectural style? Indeed, it is that. However, it also represents a piece of cultural heritage, as it was the home of long-time, Vancouver Sun editorial cartoonist, Len Norris, a master of political satire. And it was designed by Duncan McNab, who was a part of the West Coast Modern architectural movement that took hold of Vancouver in the 1950’s and 1960’s. So, this house is valuable not only for its architectural style but also for its affiliation to two individuals who were famous in their own right.

"The Cow is Always Right"

                "The Cow is Always Right"

Francis Caulfeild's love of nature helped shape the unique coastal community, now known as Olde Caulfeild, in the early 1900s. Learn how he built a traditional English village in an untraditional way, modifying his ideas to fit the West Vancouver landscape by following the natural contours of the land, and discover why “the cow is always right”.



My Bob Lewis Odyssey

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!

Where do you find heritage? Old growth trees

Happy Heritage Week 2021 with the theme “Where do you find Heritage?” Our fourth stop is an imaginary walk back in time, long before First Nations or Europeans first set foot on the North Shore, when the entire North Shore was covered in a dense forest.