Thursday, January 14, 2010
Last House on the Block

This lovely gardened home at 258 and its neighbor to the east were the last single family homes to be demolished on East 11th Street in the City of North Vancouver.  When the new buildings are completed the entire block will be multifamily housing, and Eva Rose's lovely and much loved garden will be gone.


Eva Rose, purchased the home in March 1956  from the original owner and builder, Mr. Kasher. It was built in 1954. As soon as it was livable, Mr. and Mrs. Kasher and their two young daughters moved in and construction continued until it was almost finished, then hard times hit the family, and they sold the house to Eva.  Eva did the finishing touches and built the garden.


Eva parents. Russ and Grace Rose, lived with Eva until they died. Her mother died in Dec. 1966 and father in Dec. 1968. In March of the year 2000 Eva was  80 years old and had  lived in the house for 44 years. Eva had two brothers, Frank and Philip. They were all born in North Vancouver and attended North Star School, Ridgeway, and North Van High Schools. Her father, Russ came to Canada in 1906 and to North Van in 1908. My mother, Grace came to North Van in 1914. Both Eva's mother and father came from England. Eva owned and operated a Hairdressing Salon at Kings and Lonsdale until 1948 when she sold out and was then employed at B.C. Telephone Co until her retirement.  In her retirement she tended her beautiful garden.


Eva Rose's father, Russ was a story teller.  And Eva liked to tell the stories about his early life in Scunthorpe, near Petervorough in England and his pioneer adventures in Canada. Russ told of working as a printer's apprentice at age 12, naming Syringa Creek on the Lower Arrow Lakes, in 1908 building a one room shack on what would become West 29th Street in North Vancouver, and naming  the creek there, Old Riley's Creek after his new hunter and prospector friend, Riley.


More stories by Russ Rose are available in the Year 2000 Photography Project, Your House/Our Home on file at the North Vancouver Archives.


House Demolished: 2009.
Photo: Year 2000 Project, Your House/Our Home by SW.

Thursday, January 7, 2010
104 Fires in the City

The Villa St. Georges Apartment Building at 1033 St. Georges Avenue was built of red brick and white stucco and stands on the south west corner of St. Georges and East 11th Street. It is across the street from St. Andrew's United Church. Other apartment buildings in the area have equally romantic names. On St. Georges Avenue are The Royal St. George and St. Georges Place. On the adjacent 11th Street are The Spanish Villa and the Royal Villa.

The Villa St. George was severely damaged by fire January 2009. 35 people lived in the self owned apartments of this wood framed building. The fire gutted the top floor of the three storeys. One tenant was killed, "two firefighters injured and at least five residents as well as three police officers were treated for smoke inhalation." CBC website. Sandy Miller, the Assistant Chief-Prevention, North Vancouver City Fire Department reports that this same year 104 fires in the City of North Vancouver were reported to the Office of the Fire Commissioner in Victoria.

Fires have destroyed other prominent buildings in the City of North Vancouver. Paine's Hardware, in the Aberdeen Block at 78-90 Lonsdale Avenue was built in 1910-1911. Until the fire on New Year's Eve 1997 it maintained its old fashion charm and stock. It has been rebuilt as an apartment building with stores on the street floor. The Barraclough Block at 201-203 Lonsdale Avenue was built in 1929 with a second floor being added in 1940. When it burned, also in 1997, it was housing the popular Great Outdoor Equipment Ltd. It has been rebuilt in the same style with a modern two storey apartment building on top. The street floor store is now RDS Skate and Snow Supply with a floor of apartments above.

A Permit for Demolition of 1033 St. Georges Ave. was applied for in November 2, 2009.  It was demolished by December 2, 2009.  A new 54 unit apartment building built on the original foundation is proposed.

Photo: Taken September 12, 2009 by SW.
Books: The Ambitious City, A History of the City of North Vancouver
             by Warren Sommer.

            Heritage Inventory, City of North Vancouver, 1994.
Web site:The History of Metropolitan Vancouver/Chronology/1941.