What do you think of when you hear the word ‘bungalow’? A single-storey home that was hastily constructed to accommodate shipyard workers during WWII? A small non-descript home constructed during the 1950’s and 1960’s? As it turns out, the word ‘bungalow’ and its structure have evolved over hundreds of years, with its most handsome and everlasting version in the form of the Craftsman bungalow. And guess what? We do not need to look any further than the City of North Vancouver to see an amazing collection of these spectacular homes! So, stick with me as I give you a brief history, highlight some of the architectural features and then showcase the bungalows of the City of North Vancouver. And afterwards, I’d be willing to bet that you too might be afflicted with a case of Bungalow Love!
404 Somerset - A Tale of Pioneers and Crime Busters!
North Shore Farm to Table Tradition
The Bent House has a Story to Tell!
The Silk Purse: From Summer Cottage to Vibrant Arts Centre
The Ambleside waterfront is home to a number of heritage buildings that were repurposed as Arts and Culture facilities. One of them, The Silk Purse, has a long, nearly century-old history. Discover how this building went from summer cottage-to family home-to having a new life as a vibrant hub for Arts and Culture, and read about the benefits of repurposing heritage buildings for community use.
Grouse Mountain Chair Lift Adventure
The theme for heritage week this year is Always in All Ways. What a wonderfully wide-open theme! While we at North Shore Heritage tend to focus on built heritage, we also recognize the connection of built heritage to both cultural and landscape heritage. In the blog today, I’m going to start with a photo that represents a piece of my personal heritage but after a little research on my part, I realized that this photo also tells a pretty interesting story related to the history of Grouse Mountain and North Shore tourism. Let’s start with the photo…
Sewell Prescott Moody - From Good Fortune to Calamity!
The next time you walk along Moody Avenue, or stroll though the recently created, impressive, Moodyville Park area, or drive along the Low Road past the imposing grain elevators, give a thought to a young, ambitious and savvy Yankee Trader named Sewell “Sew” Prescott Moody who developed and expanded the successful Moody Sawmill Company. He also established the first non-indigenous community on the shore of Burrard Inlet, Moodyville, where the grain elevators sit today with no evidence of the settlement. Fate intervened in his successful life and Sew went from being in the right place at the right time to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The History Behind the Facade
An old house can be admired for the uniqueness of its design. What makes it important, however is the history behind the façade, the people that have lived there, how and why it was built. Take Cornish House in Upper Lonsdale for example. Half timbered roughcast stucco walls sit beneath a gabled roof. One enters a hallway decorated in wainscotting and timbered ceilings, perhaps unknowing of the family whose name describes the property.
Lynn Valley General Store…Times Two!
When you look at this snowy scene of Lynn Valley, what do you see? I immediately recognize the “Fromme Block” which sits at the corner of Lynn Valley Road and Mountain Highway. I also see the tracks of the Lynn Valley streetcar that ended at what we now know as the “End of The Line” store. But what the heck is that house doing in the middle of the block? I had to go all the way back to 1908 to answer that question. And in so doing, I learned about the two iterations of the “Lynn Valley General Store”. So, join me as we turn back the clock to do a bit of time travelling to the early days of Lynn Valley.
Royal Street Names in Upper Lonsdale
Wish You Were Here (in Capilano, North Vancouver)
Take a trip through time all the way up Capilano Road -from Marine Drive to Grouse Mountain- on a postcard tour of some of the area’s tourist destinations and amenities. Tourism around the Capilano River area began in 1889, with the first suspension bridge being stretched over the Canyon. Shortly after, people began visiting this area of North Vancouver and the stream of visitors has been steady for the last 130 years, with hotels, motels, restaurants, hiking trails, viewpoints and skiing among the many destinations that popped up to provide for tourists. Learn a little about each place’s history and whether or not it’s still somewhere people can visit, or if it only remains in people’s memories, photographs and postcards.
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!
The Origins of Capilano Road
The Legacy of Alfred Wallace
The Age of the Atomic Garden: Trends that Shaped Gardens in the 1950s
The 1950s was a decade that was part of the “atomic” age, when Cold War concerns were high. Along with this modern trend of nuclear and other new technology, gardens also became much more “modern” and made the leap from front-porch-centred flower garden to sprawling, backyard lawn paradise. Read on to learn about some popular 1950s garden trends such as the colour “flamingo pink”, discover how gardens changed drastically into the type we’re most familiar with today, and even read about how there was some literal “atomic” gardening happening back then.
“Snap Shots” into the Life of the Goldsmith-Jones Family
When Tom from Urban Repurpose made this post to the store’s Facebook page, it immediately piqued my interest as I know this house! It’s a gorgeous Arts and Craft house that features prominently on the East Keith streetscape. I rushed in to see the photo and learned that it was part of a “Snap Shots” photo book that had been donated to his non-profit store. I quickly realized it documented the personal life of the family who lived in that home. Tom very kindly agreed to donate this important historical document to the North Vancouver Archives where it could remain in the public domain. After some detective work, I determined that it had once belonged to Gwen, the daughter of the original owner of 368 East Keith, William Goldsmith-Jones. The story that this book tells is amazing as it documents the life of the Goldsmith-Jones family from the time William arrived in Canada in 1908, to when his own children were adults, all in one book! Who needs an i-Cloud?! The “Snap Shots” book features photos of their various homes (all still standing!), their family members, treasured pets, close friends, their favourite vacation spots, their leisure activities and their places of employment. Alone, these photos tell a story of a pioneering North Vancouver family who were an integral part of society in the early 20th century. But then I tracked down two grandchildren of William Goldsmith-Jones, Geoffrey and Leslie, who really brought Gwen’s “Snap Shots” book to life!
Tudor Revival Style of Architecture
Have you ever found yourself wandering the streets of your neighbourhood, admiring the homes, both old and new, only to wonder what style of architecture a certain home might be? Well, we at the North Shore Heritage Society are here to help! In the next part of our architecture series, we will be looking at the Tudor Revival style.
Street Names in North Vancouver
The origin of the street names on the North Shore provides a fascinating history into the development of the North Shore as we know it today. This blog covers the people and places behind some of the names, starting with LONSDALE but also discussing Bridgman, Fell, Hamilton, Cloverley, Keith, Mahon, Moody, .Heywood, Pemberton, Whitchurch, Adderley and Shavington.
Ice Cream, Strawberries and Piano Music: A Celebration of the Front Porch on Vancouver’s North Shore
Homes all over the North Shore have front porches and verandahs, but what are these vestiges from the past really about and why were they so important in building community on the North Shore? Find out the answers to these questions as well as read about some of the many wonderful things that took place on these structures on the North Shore in the early 1900s, learn where the idea for the verandah comes from, and discover why they are still so iconic today.
Doubly Spectacular Heritage Project
It all started with the January 7, 2020 North Shore News article “1908 Heritage Home Offered for Free”. The “Copper Cottage”, on the CNV Heritage Register, was slated for demolition but the developer had given it a last-minute reprieve, if North Shore Heritage could find someone to take it. Two years later, Tony Dean and Yvonne Perrault, have undertaken the most mammoth job of relocating, renovating, restoring not just the Copper Cottage but also the original 1920 house that sat at the back of their lot at 532 East 10th. The outcome is Doubly Spectacular, pun intended!!!