Wednesday, September 22, 2010
53 Years on Tempe Crescent

Tempe Crescent is one of three Crescent shaped streets south of East 29th Street in the City of North Vancouver.  The crescent streets, Somerset Street, Brand Street, and Tempe Crescent, start and end on East 29th Street.  The house at 452 Tempe Crescent is just about at the most southern point of these three crescent streets.

There is no entry for the 452 Tempe Crescent address in either the Building Permit Book or the 1950 City Directory at the North Vancouver Archives.  However, in the 1955 issue Rex W. and Gwen M. Johnston are listed as owners.  They are also listed as the owners in the 1960 issue.  During this time Rex Johnston was a branch manager at the Royal Bank.  

In 1964  the Knowles family bought the house.  The move was an easy one since for the previous 7 years they had lived just a few door away at 440 Tempe Crescent. In fact, in 1960 Allan R. and Wilhehmina Knowles were reported as the owners of the 440 Tempe Crescent home.  By 1965 they were listed as the owners at the 452 Tempe Crescent residence.  During  this time Allan Knowles was employed as an accountant at the Bank of Nova Scotia. In the 1971, 1980, 1991, and 1995/1996 City Directories the owner was listed as Mrs. Wilhelmina Knowles.   In 1991 and 1995/1996 Wilhelmina (Billie) Knowles was employed by  North Shore Home Support Services.  Two other residents listed in the 1995/1996 City Directory were Samuel C. Knowles, a gardener, and Akiko Takemoto, a student.

Billie Knowles continued to live at the 452 Tempe Crescent address until September 2010.  Although she will still be living on the North Shore the move will be more extensive than the one from 440 Tempe Crescent in 1964.  She has had to pack up not only her possessions but family heirlooms.  One of these was  the 1869 Christening dress of her grandfather Charles Wood Rogers.  Her grandmother's wedding dress has previously been donated to a museum.

With the 7 years the Knowles lived at 440 Tempe Crescent and the 46 years they lived at 452 Tempe Crescent, their total time on the street was 53 years.

Demolition: Permit applied for from the City of North Vancouver in Sept. 2010.
Photo: Taken in September 2010 by SW.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
New Home on Tempe Crescent

Three streets curve around the south side of the top of the steep East 29th Street hill in the City of North Vancouver. The first street down from East 29th Street is Somerset St. The second street down from East 29th Street is Brand Street. And the most southern of the three streets down from East 29th Street is Tempe Crescent. Here is nearby Tempe Heights Park.

The house at 560 Tempe Crescent is near the eastern intersection with East 29th Street. The address for the one storey house in not listed in the 1950 City Directory. But in the 1955 and 1960 City Directories the owners are listed as Peter M. and Carol. A. Bricel. In 1955 Peter Bricel was the president of Intercontinental Mercantile. In 1960 he was employed as the secretary-treasurer of B.C. Mercantile. By 1980 the owner was J. Douglas McHaughton, assistant general manager of Nahanni Helicopters Ltd. The "New Neighbor" and new owner in 1991 was Sherry Hawk. She continued to own the house in 1995.

The photo of 560 Tempe Crescent 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 their home owners copies of 1000 photos taken for the Y2K Project. In this same year a Demolition Permit was applied for. By 2008 a large home was built with two front sundecks, 3 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, and a loft space with a total of 4216 sq ft on a 6600 sq ft sun drenched lot. (See Link.)

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://vancouverrealestateblog.ca/2008/09/noort-homes-north-vancouver-current-listings/

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.

Link: http://www.noorthomes.com/index.cfm?method=residential.list&cityid=d6069024-2fd6-4149-b3aa-7f1ef03e56dd