Friday, August 27, 2010
Front Yard Plums

The house at 619 East 17th Street doesn't front on East 17th Street at all. The house actually faces west toward the lane parallel to and east of Grand Boulevard. The house and backyard extend from East 17th Street to another lane, that one between East 16th Street and East 17th Street. There is no record in the Building Permit Book of the house on the two lanes. There is no record of the 619 address in the 1955 City Directory, either.

However, in 1960 the owners were John and Hendrika Koudstaal. John Koudstaal worked as an electrician. In 1971 the owners were Guiseppe and Maria Meola. Guiseppe was a construction worker. And in 1980 the resident was Hanna Clayton, an employee of Stranco Can.

The 1991 and 1995/1996 owners were James W. and Carla Aydon. During that time James Aydon was employed as a dry cleaner at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

Somewhere along the way fruit trees were planted in the front and back yards of 619 East 17th Street. A plum tree was planted next to the walk from East 17th Street to the front door. And cherry trees were planted in the large backyard extending to the lane. Along with the cherry trees a basketball net was mounted on the fence of the lane on the same side as the front door.

Demolition Permit: Applied for in May 2010.
Photo: Take in August 2010 by SW.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Behind the Wrought Iron Fence

The house behind the wrought iron fence was at 260 East 17th Street in the City of North Vancouver. 260 East 17th Street is only two blocks and easy walking distance from Lonsdale Avenue and 17th Street, the shopping hub of the City. Here a home was reported in the Building Permit book as being built in 1926 by Edward S. Alexander. Edward was a journalist and continued to live in the house at least until 1931. The house in the photo above looks more like a home built in the 1950's. However, there is no evidence as to it being built at that time.

In 1940 the home owners were Helen and D. M. Moore, retired. Moore's also lived in the house in 1950, but this time it was Mary R. and Jason M. Moore. Mason was a mill worker at King Lumber. In 1960 the resident was Mrs. Rosalie F. L. Carney. Rosalie was the proprietor at White Swan Hairdressing at 1205 Lonsdale Avenue. The owners in 1971 were Howard A. and Dorothy I. Thompson. Howard was employed as a teacher in the North Vancouver School District. In 1980 the house was reported as being vacant. By 1991 Nancy J. Calder had moved in. Nancy worked as a clerk at Stong's Markets. Then in 1996 R. Birch was living at 260 East 17th. He reported that he had been living there for four years.

The photo of 260 East 17th 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. Approximately 800 of these were accompanied by some history from the present or previous home owner sometimes including personal photographs.



In the month of June 2007 Suzanne Wilson celebrated the City of North Vancouver's 100 birthday by distributing to their home owners copies of 1000 photos taken for the Y2K Project. At this time it was discovered that the home photographed at 260 East 17th Street had been demolished and a new duplex had been completed.


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.