Thursday, December 2, 2010

Wartime Home on 4th Street  

The house at 549 East 4th Street was one of the many homes built in 1941 as Wartime Housing.  "February 28, 1941, Wartime Housing Limited (WHL) was incorporated. It will build rental units across Canada for war industry workers. On the north shore 750 single family homes will be built, as well as barracks-type apartments for single workers, Westview School, a recreation centre, and a fire hall. (The houses were supposed to have been removed at the end of the War, but 135 units survive, some into the 1990s.)" (See Link 1.)  The original homes were on one floor and had a living room, two bedrooms, and a kitchen.  The Wartime House at 549 East 4th Street had additional rooms but  survived until 2010.

In 1945 the City Directory lists the residents as R. J. and Alice E. Miller.  Roy Miller was employed at NVSH.  In 1950 the owners were Hugh R. and Mildred A. Gwynn.  Hugh Gwynn was an engineer at C H Cates.    In 1960 Mrs. Beda J. Jacobson, widow of F. Jacobson was the owner. 

In 1971  Ronald G. and Gayle Y. Assaf were the owners.  Ronald Assaf was an electrician at S. Glover Electric.  Mrs. Gaye Y. Assaf was a secretary at Kariboo Industries.  In 1980 the owners were Stan and Marguerite Patykewich.  Stan Patykewich worked as a floor covering salesman.

About 1987 Mike N. Edel became the owner.  He lived there until at least 1995/1996 and worked as a technician at Chubb Alarms.  In 1995/1996 Lyndi Ainsworth was also a resident at 549 East 4th Street.  She was the accounts manager at AD Team Marketing 1986 Inc.

A new home will be built by Blake Developments.  (See Link 2.)

Reference:  To see photos of other Wartime Housing see City of North Vancouver Heritage Inventory 1994.

Demolition: Permit applied for in November 2010.

Photo: Taken in November 2010 by SW.

Link 1: http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/chronology1941.htm

Link 2: http://blakedevelopments.ca/Blakedevelopments.ca/Welcome.html

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Decked Out for Every Holiday

During the photographing of over 2000 homes in the City of North Vancouver for the Year 2000 Project, Your House/Our Home (see March 22 Blog Post) it was noted that the house at 662 East 5th Street was decked out for every holiday. At Halloween a pumpkin scarecrow even guarded the front porch of the Wartime House (See March 22 Blog Post) from his chair next to the front door. Ghosts hung in the front bushes and side tree.

Since it was built in 1941 many families lived in this well decorated home. In 1945, right at the end of the war, it was Yvonne and John W. Mark. In 1950 it was William J. Ellison Jr., a roofer. In 1960 Ken A. and Marianne Woods were the owners. Ken was an electrician. By 1971 Donald J. and Mary Martin owned the house. Mary was a clerk at The Citizen Newspaper. In 1980 the resident was S. Dennis and in 1991 it was A. Geraldine Sandau. Perhaps Geraldine was new to 662 East 5th Street in 1991 for the 1995/96 City Directory notes that by then she had lived there for 6 years. In 1995/96 another resident is mentioned and that was Terrace S. McCabe.

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 662 East 5th Street had been demolished and a new home had been built.

Photo: Taken in the year 2000 by SW.

Monday, March 22, 2010
Wartime House

"SECOND WORLD WAR HOUSES FOR WARTIME HOUSING LTD.

1941-1942

  "During the Second World War the City of North Vancouver was an important centre for shipbuilding activities.  The sudden influx of workmen for these and other defense projects necessitated the construction of a number of new homes.  As such, in 1941 two hundred new residences were built at 2nd Street and St. George's Avenue, and four hundred were constructed between Fell and Heywood Avenues, while McCarter and Nairne acted as supervising architects for all wartime housing in British Columbia.  In addition, two large buildings, each housing approximately one hundred and eighty bachelors, were built at the corner of 3rd Street and St. George's Avenue.  A number of these smaller wartime residences remain in the City of North Vancouver, however, due to their modular nature, most have been altered or added to over the years.  A recent in-depth study of wartime housing by J. Robert Faulkner has clarified its significance to the development of the North Shore, and identified those examples still remaining in the City; these are listed and described on the following pages."  City of North Vancouver Heritage Inventory 1994, page 172.

The house at 648 East 3rd Street is one of these Wartime Houses and a photo and description are shown on page 174 of the City of North Vancouver Heritage Inventory 1994. "This is another example of an H-1 single family residence. These houses were 24'x24' in plan, and also built in reverse, such as this model which has the double windows of the living room to the left of the entry."  648 was built in 1941 for $1605.  

In 1945 and 1950 the house was owned by Eric S. and Justine Dunham.  Eric worked as a burner  for the NVSR in 1945 and for the PDD in 1950.  By 1960 Justine was a widow and a factory worker at Schlage Lock.  In the 1968 City Directory the house is listed only as occupied.  And in 1975 there was no answer at all to their requests.  In 1985 the new resident was R. K. Crockett.  And in 1995/96 the occupant is listed as C. Jordan.

The photo of 648 East 3rd 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 648 East 3rd Street had been demolished and a new home had been built.


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.