Monday, July 26, 2010
71 Years of Pink Azaleas and Purple Rhodos
The house on the double lot at 388 Tempe Crescent was built for $4,500 in 1939 by C. Notzel. The contractor was F. J. Pew, although, the grandson reports that his grandmother designed the house. His mother, Stephanie Barnes, reports that her mother also designed the garden.This one storey multilevel home has been owned by the Notzel family ever since. That makes it their home for 71 years, the longest by far of any family owning a home reported on in this Blog.
The 1940 City Directory lists both Cliff A. and Ruth Notzel as owners of the house at 388 Tempe Crescent. Cliff Notzel was employed as the secretary-treasurer at Pumps and Power of which Bernard Notzel was the president. Cliff Notzel died in 1944. By 1950 Ruth E. Notzel is listed as the widow of C. A. Notzel and employed as a bookkeeper at Pumps and Power. In 1960 she was the office manager there, and in 1980 she is listed as being retired. Ruth Notzel lived in the house until she died in 1995. The family then used the house when they were in town until they rented it out in 1997.
Ruth Notzel went to the Vancouver School of Art before she was married and her love of art lasted throughout her life. She was the driving force behind the volunteers at the Art Gallery in Presentation House in the 1970's and was recognized as such during a "Ruth Notzel Day" celebration by the Art Galley.
Although the house address is 388 Tempe Crescent, because it is on a steep hill it must be approached from the street above, Brand Street. Both Tempe Crescent and Brand Street are two of the three crescent shaped streets just south of the top of the East 29th Street hill in the Tempe Heights area of the City of North Vancouver.
The house seems to occupy only half of the double lot. The other half as can be seen in the photo below is park like grounds with the pink azalea and purple rhododendron bushes nestled in tall trees and accented with stone retaining walls. The camellia bush beside the front window was planted Cliff Notzel in about 1940. The view is expansive, of downtown Vancouver and stretching to Vancouver Island.
A new single family home will be built on this 6036 sq. ft. lot by Noort Homes. It will be 4451 sq. ft. with three bedrooms, a den and three bathrooms and of course the fantastic panoramic view of Vancouver. (See Link.)
Demolition Permit: Applied for to the City of North Vancouver in June 2010.
Thank You: To Ruth Notzel's daughter Stephanie Barnes and her son for information about the house and their family.
Photo: Taken in June 2010 by SW.
