Monday, February 28, 2011

East Side VS West Side

I took some of these photos last summer. This is on East 10 Street and the house address reads 1552 but the heritage plaque has an address of 1554. Because I had taken the photo so long ago I had to do more research to make sure I had the right house before I wrote on it.

This home was built around 1912 - architect and builder unknown - and rehabilitated in 1997 by Edward LeFlufy. Some structural restoration was necessary especially the square columned veranda.

LeFlufy kept the components that make this wood frame construction home unique. Like the stylistic touches such as the clapboard siding, the wood sash windows and the veranda's overhanging eaves with decorative brackets.

Still in the Grandview area is this home on Odlum Street.

John L. McKenzie completed this Edwardian Builder home in 1910. (He also built three other homes on Odlum)




Through the 1920s and some of the 1930s this home was rented out to many working class families although for a while during the Great Depression it was vacant.

From 1940 through to the late 1980s this was the home to various immigrants: Estonian, Yugoslav and then Italian. By 1999 this home was in serious disrepair and in dire need of restoring. The owners spent the next few years rehabilitating it, including the elegantly columned front porch.

In 2007 the house was painted in authentic colors from the time period in which it was built. This was done as part of Vancouver Heritage Foundation's True Colours Program.

Now I am going to go back to the West End and show you some more from there.

This is the Roedde House on Barclay Street. It is part of the Barclay Heritage Square.

Architect Francis Mawson Rattenbury built this Queen Anne style house in 1893 for his friend and our city's first bookbinder, German born Gustav Roedde. (Rattenbury is also responsible for the design of the Parliament Buildings and the Empress Hotel in Victoria and Vancouver's Courthouse - now the Art Gallery on Georgia Street)

In 1980 the City of Vancouver began restoring the exterior and it was at that time the Roedde House Preservation Society was formed and their mission was to restore and furnish the interior. The society collected the Victorian-Edwardian furnishings that show the family life at the time this home was built.




On May 16, 1990 Roedde House Museum was opened by then Mayor Gordon Campbell as Vancouver's first house museum.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

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Friday, February 25, 2011

Fascinating Facts for Friday

Here's something a little different for you. I am going through my files of photos on Vancouver and posting those. Usually I will fill your head with historical knowledge but not today. This time I am going to subject you to some current facts on my beautiful city. So I hope you enjoy it.


Remember when I wrote on the BC Hydro building? Well this is a sculpture that is outside the building.

For five years in a row Vancouver has been voted the most liveable city in the world.

Greater Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada while Vancouver city is the eighth largest.

Vancouver is a city where a person can swim, play golf and ski all in the same day.

The city was named after Captain Vancouver.


We are the third largest film production centre in North America. You might be surprised to realize that some of your favourite shows and movies are filmed here.
Although there is one vehicle for every two Vancouver citizens this is one of the few North American cities without a freeway running through downtown.
The wealthiest neighbourhoods in Canada are here. Unfortunately I don't live in one of them!

The west end of Vancouver only covers 20 blocks but is the most densely populated area in North America.
Vancouver has the highest proportion per capita of Asians than in any other North American city and 35% of Vancouver's population is foreign born which is the highest figure in the world.
We know have to have a good time though. Vancouverites dine out more than citizens in any other North American city.
Greater Vancouver is home to two of my idols: Terry Fox who, despite losing a leg to cancer, attempted to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. – The Marathon of Hope - He made it over halfway before the cancer struck again and he had to quit. That was in 1980 and thirty years later runs are still being in his memory to raise money for cancer research.



And Rick Hansen. Hansen became paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident at the age of 15.   But on March 20, 1985 Hansen left Vancouver on the Man in Motion tour. His goal was to wheel around the world to raise money for spinal cord research. Guess what? He did it. On May 22, 1987 Hansen was greeted by thousands of cheering people as he wheeled into BC Place Stadium. Remember the movie St. Elmo's Fire and that great song Man in Motion? That song was written by Canada's own David Foster and British musician John Parr as a tribute to Hansen. It was performed by Parr.

About ten years ago I was living in an apartment in New Westminster. It was less than a year after my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Someone was cleaning out a vacant apartment and dropped a box of books off for me. One of them was Rick Hansen, Man in Motion - the story of Hansen's journey around the world. That book touched me deeply. I figured if Hansen could pull that off what am I doing getting depressed about my situation in life? I wrote to Rick Hansen and he answered me. I framed his letter and it hangs on my wall to remind me that I can do what I want. If you want to read a book that is inspirational and reminds you of what a person can do than I advise you to read that one.
The eccentric, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes moved to Vancouver after a massive earthquake hit Nicaragua where he was living at the time. He lived here for a few years in a suite at the Bayshore Hotel at the entrance to Stanley Park.
I guess he didn't realize that Vancouver sits on one of the most dangerous earthquake faults in the world. One day an earthquake greater than 8 on the Richter scale will hit the city. We also have an active volcano nearby but should Mt Baker erupt it wouldn’t create a threat. Or so they say.

In the 1960s Errol Flynn, the legendary actor, spent his final days in Vancouver. He died in an apartment in the West End.
Vancouver’s CKWX was the first rock ‘n roll station in Canada in the early 1950s and in 1967 the first rock FM station, CKLG.
Greenpeace was founded here.
Rock star and activist Bob Geldoff used to be editor of the Georgia Straight - a free local weekly paper.
The term Skid Row which refers to the seedier parts of town is said to have started here. Other cities do lay claim to being the origin of the term but since I am in Vancouver and this is my blog I am going to give credit my city.

Vancouver may get a lot of rain but we get less than Boston and New York City.

I would like to thank vancouver.hm for the information and all these facts. Or at most of them.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

West End Story

Today there are more photos from my journey into the West End on Monday.

Between 901 and 935 Denman Street is what was once known as the Bay Theatre also the Starlight Theatre.


Dominion Construction Ltd was the first builder in 1939 of this Art Moderne style building. There is a question mark on who the original architect was but according to Wikipedia.org they think it was Paul Kwasnicky.

Hewitt, Tan & Kwasnicky Architects were commissioned by the building's owners, the Amadon Group, to make the building viable and still hold on to its heritage.

From an Art Moderne style theatre to a Craftsman style home. This is the Hirshfield House on Comox street.

Architects Gamble & Knapp designed this home in 1910 for a real estate broker and local businessman Alfred C. Hirshfield.

Doesn't this house remind you of something out of a fairy tale? I expect to see a forest encompassing the house and mythical creatures playing in the yard. Of course I didn't see that but maybe I was there at the wrong time.

This is the Barclay Manor on Barclay Street. It is the centerpiece for Barclay Heritage Square which is a collection of heritage homes that have been redone.

R.J. Macdonald is listed in 1909 as the architect for this Queen Anne style home. However there is also an earlier construction date listed of 1890. Hmmm.

The Barclay Manor has had an interesting history. In its lifetime it has served as a private hospital, a home for Catholic working girls, a former boarding house and is now a seniors' center.


But you don't have to be a senior to get inside the Barclay Manor. According to the Savoury Chef this is one of many heritage buildings that are available to rent for things like weddings, banquets and special occasions. The menu selections look scrumptious!

And being that Vancouver is a centre for the film industry of course this mansion and the grounds has been used in numerous productions.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

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