At the Water's Edge
The house at 1675 Edgewater Lane sits on the eastern bank of the Seymour River. A canopy of trees stretches out over the roof to block the house from even being recorded in an aerial view map of the area. Edgewater Lane is parallel to Riverside Drive north of Mount Seymour Parkway. The building of the house is not listed in the Building Permit book at the North Vancouver Archives. However, in 1957 a permit for a $2000 addition is. The owner in 1980 was George Anderson, a sander at A and W Floor Company. The address of the house at this time was 1625 Riverside Drive. Edgewater Lane was established as a subdivision in 1974. A Riverside Drive neighbor reports that the 1675 Edgewater Lane house was on sale for $120,000 in 1984. Following that it was a rental property for several years. In 1991 and 1995 the house was vacant. In 1998 the owner was P. Gadon.
The roof of this one storey house is covered in cedar shakes. Cedar shakes are a favorite of home owners in North Vancouver. They are indigenous to the area and reflect the wild wooded and bush nature in the west coast rain forest that is North Vancouver. However, they are not always a friendly material to use. The slope of the roof must be steep enough to quickly shed the water of the many rainy days here. And it must always be remembered that "wood rots" is a constant chant of North Shore home owners. A shake roof in North Vancouver may last for as little as 15 years and for the size of the Edgewater Lane home may be around $20,000 to replace. For whatever of these reasons the shakes on the Edgewater Lane home looked like they had been rotting for some years. Shakes are mounted on wood slats with spaces between. When a shake roof rots the roof leaks. The amount of water damage to the inside of this home is probably extensive.
The Seymour River running along the yard in the back of the house starts north of Seymour Lake which is to the east of Cathedral Mountain. At the south end of the lake is the Seymour Falls Dam on the west side and on the east side the Seymour River Fish Hatchery and Education Centre. Both of these are at the north end of the Lower Seymour River Conservation Reserve. The river then runs south past Maplewood's Farm Park to empty into Burrard Inlet just east of the Iron Workers Memorial (formerly the Second Narrows) Bridge. Sports fisherman can often be seen at the mouth of the river.
Research: Thank you to Elaine Oakes at the CDNV District Hall.
Link: http://www.seymoursalmon.com/how%20to%20find%20us.htm
Link: http://www.seymoursalmon.com/how%20to%20find%20us.htm
Demolition Permit applied for in November 2009.
Photo: Taken by Suzanne Wilson December 2009.
