| This little house with its 1950's barbershop addition out front, so long a downtown landmark, was the oldest remaining house in the area until its demolition in 1995. 909 Richards was built in 1889 for Ontario-born sawmill-owner and real estate broker Andrew Edward Lees ran a men's furnishings store at 26 Cordova then at 156 West Hastings for a number of years. Lees was Vancouver's Parks Board Commissioner from 1902 to 1915. During his tenure, work on the Stanley Park Seawall and the Stanley Park Zoo was begun. Lees lived at 909 Richards with his wife Anna Elizabeth Lees and their five children from 1890 to 1906. The house was then bought and lived in by Australian-born baker Joseph DeGraves, his wife Eliza, and their four children. Joseph and Eliza DeGraves had four sons of which three were prominent in Vancouver history: Alderman Harry J. DeGraves, Customs Collector Norman J. DeGraves, and Fire Chief John Henry DeGraves. |
The Homer Block, with its evocative signature bay windows has been a downtown landmark since 1910 when it replaced a house which was the twin of the now rather lonely house which in early 2007 still stands at 335 Smithe Street. These two houses and another pair of twin houses to the east of 335 Smithe were built in 1905 by Vancouver contractor and developer Edward Hobson. The corner house, which was numbered 345 Smithe, was demolished in 1909 and replaced with The Homer Block—also built by Edward Hobson. Hobson may have been encouraged to build an apartment block here due to the fact that Recreation Park, Vancouver’s premier sporting complex with its baseball and lacrosse playing fields and L-shaped grandstand stood directly south across Smithe Street. There are several great photos including panorama shots of the fields being used for lacrosse games at the archives. Hobson’s houses and The Homer appear as incidental backdrop. One of The Homer’s earliest residents was Vancouver cartoonist Henry Crumplin. |
Here’s a great example of a house that should be in the heritage inventory but isn’t. It is likely the only remaining house in the city designed by the firm of Twizell Bird & Twizell, the designers of Burnaby’s Ceperley Mansion, Vancouver’s Saint Andrew’s Wesley United Church, St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, Canadian Memorial United Church, Prince of Wales School, and St. Peter’s Church in New Westminster.
Robert Mills “Bull’s-eye” Blair, considered the leading expert in small arms in Canada, commanded Vancouver’s Seaforth Highlanders from 1928 to 1933. In 1929, Lt.-Colonel Blair became the toast of Canada when he took the King’s Prize and the Grand Aggregate awards at the British Empire rifle matches at the Bizley Rifle Range, the first time that any contestant had won both the King’s Prize and the Grand Aggregate. There are over thirty photographs in the archives of Blair’s homecoming celebration including his “Chairing” at the Cambie Grounds and parade to Stanley Park.
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