So, you want to find out something about your house and the people who lived there before you. That is a fascinating and rewarding project, but accessing all the information out there invariably takes a lot of time and effort. Just learning where to dig can take a lot of time in itself. If you are looking for help or someone to do the work for you, you’ve come to the right place.

Over the past decade I have researched the histories of close to 500 houses and commercial buildings in almost every neighborhood of Vancouver, including recently a growing number in New Westminster. Most of these projects have been for homeowners keen to know the names and stories of the people who lived in their house before them. Some of these house history projects were for realtors wanting to present a unique housewarming gift for their clients. Others were done in anticipation of a Statement of Significance (SOS) being written up for clients wanting their heritage house designated. I also do a lot of smaller projects for realtors looking to add a bit of historical spice to their listing ads.

When I do a project I usually include the history of some of the adjoining houses for context. I find that when I broaden the scope of my research that there are often unanticipated and usually fascinating connections between a neighbouring house's story and that of the focus house. Often neighbouring houses were built by the same builder or owned by the same extended family over the years with brothers or cousins or parents living very close by. you will see people who worked at the same shipyard or factory living side by side. You will see immigration patterns, like when whole neighbourhood blocks have been colonised by people from the same fishing village in Newfoundland or little town in northern Italy

What you will end up with is a comprehensive information booklets based on the in-depth research I do on the history of each house. These booklets are attractively packaged and a fascinating read. Several clients have requested leather-bound booklets to give as gifts or display on their coffee tables.

A standard package typically includes the following:

A two- to four-page historical and demographic overview of your immediate neighbourhood based on the information gleaned from the research of your house and of its immediate neighbours.

An Explanation of the origin of the name(s) of your street and those close by.
Information on when your house was built, and by whom. If copies of the building permit application can be found (there are significant gaps in the Vancouver records) you will know the name of the architect for your house and even how much it cost to build your house.

A multi-paged data chart that shows you year-by-year who lived in your house, their occupations and sometimes even their work addresses. You will find a lot of fascinating details on the lives of the various people who lived in your house, for example: where they were born, when they moved to Vancouver, when and where and by whom they were married, their religious affiliation, sometimes even the circumstances of their death and where they were buried. These details are all put in footnote form on the pages of the data chart. This history will start when your house was built - and end in 2001 when the last city directories were printed

(Click here for sample pages which will appear in a new window)

Depending on how old your immediate neighbourhood is, one to four Fire Insurance Maps with notes showing how your neighbourhood changed from 1901 through to the 1950's. These maps are often valuable for people wishing to restore and old house to its original, historic footprint.

A News Clipping Section containing newspaper, magazine articles and often even obituaries concerning the people who lived in the houses included in your study. Of course, how many news clippings I can find depends on how newsworthy the denizens of your domus were. If we are lucky enough that they are available, the information provided by these news clippings can transform an interesting study into something that is truly amazing. See the notes on 630 Princess, 1550 Harwood, 909 Richards, and 3639 Pine Crescent for examples of some of my bigger finds.

Sometimes I can find archival photographs of your house and the people who lived there, or something that relates to their job or your neighbourhood. You would be surprised sometimes at just what is out there. Photo reproduction costs vary depending on size and format and whether they are accessed from the city archives or from the public library. Photo reproduction costs are separate from, and over and above the cost to research the history of your house.

A chart showing in point form highlights of Vancouver and British Columbia history from the 1800's to present.

Charts listing Canada’s Prime Ministers, British Columbia’s Premiers, and the Mayors of Vancouver.

This service is presently available for heritage and older homes in Vancouver and in some cases Burnaby, New Westminster, North and West Vancouver, and Victoria, British Columbia. Give me a call at 604-254-4666 or e-mail me at househistorian@yahoo.ca to discuss your requirements or to set up an appointment.