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4460 West 7th Avenue
North Point Grey
511 Union
Strathcona
602 Keefer Street
Strathcona
I research home histories for a diverse client base that includes not only resident homeowners, but also building contractors and home rehabilitators, as well as realtors specializing in the heritage home field.
4460 East 7th was the first house I researched for a realtor looking to buy a unique housewarming gift for their client, the new owner of this North Point Grey Home. (Thank you Mary Stark).
The house at 4460 East 7th was a bit of a latecomer on the block, having been built in 1931-31 by Vancouver contractor William McKay. Many of the houses on the block date back to World War One.
McKay and his wife Minnie only lived in the house for two years. They were followed by Scottish-born CPR clerk Don MacKenzie and his wife Adelaide.
  Vancouver schoolteacher Mrs. Mary Kathleen Bray lived in the house from 1955 to 1977.
  Up until recently, this was the home of CKLG AM and CFOX FM general manager Chris Pandoff.
Thomas Marshall, a plumber working for the Vancouver firm McLennan & McFeely, built this pioneer house at 511 Union (originally 505 Barnard) Street sometime between 1890 and 1891. Marshall lived in the house for only one year, 1892.
The first tenants listed in the directories were two Ontario-born brothers, Thomas and George Morton. Thomas worked as mail clerk for the Canadian Pacific Railway. George worked as a messenger for the Bank of British North America.
Although it is possible that the house was originally built as a single family dwelling, by 1898 there were three, possibly more, units being rented in the home. There may have been some additions to the original building around this time to facilitate increased rentals.
Sometime in late 1921 or 1922 the house was expanded and remodeled. City water records show that by 1922 the house was owned by Fung Yick Tong and from that time onward the building was classified as a “Chinese rooming house.”
This tidy, symmetrical Queen Anne house located at the corner of Keefer and Princess was built in 1902 for Gregory Henry Tom and his wife Caroline. Gregory Tom was the principal of Strathcona School and lived in the house from 1902 to 1910.
Two years later Clinton, Ontario-born Bertram Oscar Pinder, a foreman for Kelly Douglas & Co. and his wife Mary Ann lived in the house. Prior to moving to 602 Keefer, Bertram Oscar Pinder and his family lived in the middle unit (now numbered 707) of the row house in the 700-block Hawks Avenue (see above).
From 1915 to 1937 the house was rented out to a number of renters. Later John and Mary Chomyzack owned and lived in the house from 1938 to 1989. John was mostly listed in the city directories as a cook. For many years he worked at the Venice Grill. From 1970 until his retirement in 1977 John Chomyzack worked as a waiter at The Only Café on Hastings Street.
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