Friday, July 2, 2010
1911 Wallace House

The first year addresses are recorded in the North Vancouver Building Permit Book at the North Vancouver Archives is 1911. One of these earliest addresses is 309 West 27th Street. It was built in 1911 for $200 by W. Wallace. The Wallace name has a predominant place in North Vancouver History. (See Link.) In the 1912, 1913, and 1914 the City Directories W. Wallace is simply listed as living on West 27th Street near Mahon.  309 West 27th Street is near the corner with Mahon Avenue. By 1915 the owner of the house is recorded as Alex H. Wallace, a blockman(blkm) at John Brind. In 1916 the owner is recorded as Alfred Wallace of Wallace Shipyards. In 1925 and 1931 A. H. Wallace is listed as the owner of 309 West 27th Street and working as a blacksmith. In 1937 the Building Permit Book shows another Permit, to A. Wallace for a $500 house addition. By 1945 Alex H. and Isabell Wallace were the owners. Now Alex Wallace was a blacksmith at North Vancouver City. So the Wallace family had built the house at 309 West 27th Street, built an addition, and owned it for at least 34 years.

Then in 1950 it was Mrs. Edythe J. McKinley, a widow, who owned the house. After that only residents, no owners are listed in the City Directories. The residents in 1961 were John and Anne F. Grigoruk. John Grigoruk was a teacher in the North Vancouver School District. The residents in 1971 were Oddvar N. and Jorunn Hansen. Oddvar Hanson worked as a plumber. The resident in 1980 was Mrs. Mary Martin, an employee at Lion's Gate Hospital. There was no return to inquiries from the City Directory staff in 1991 and the resident could not be verifed in 1995.

The photo of 309 West 27th Street was taken by Suzanne Wilson as part of her Year 2000 Photography Project, Your House/Our Home. 2000 photos of homes in the City of North Vancouver were photographed.


In the month of June 2007 Suzanne Wilson celebrated the City of North Vancouver's 100 birthday by distributing to 1000 home owners copies of photos taken for the Y2K Project. At this time it was discovered that the home photographed at 309 West 27th Street had been demolished and a new home was under construction.

Photo: Taken in the year 2000 by SW.
Reference: The Year 2000 project was donated by Suzanne and Alan Wilson to the North Vancouver Archives and is available for viewing.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrard_Dry_Dock