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THE HART HOUSE In the early days of what is now West Vancouver, perhaps in 1909^ John and Maggie Hart built themselves a home in the area. When house numbering was introduced, the address became 1595 jEs-quimalt Avenue, If one wants to conjecture as to why they elected to build, a reason might be family inasmuch as Maggie Hart was a sister of John Larson. If so, the Harts did not choose to build on Lawson property, but just outside on the wrong side of 16th Street. There they lived until 1927 or 1928 when they sold the house to Mr. John T, Watt, and moved to a smaller just two lots further east on Esquimalt. It is from Doug Watt, one of J.T.'s sons, that we get the folio vang verbal picture of the splendid dwelling, now gone and replaced by Ho, 1 Firehall and its parking lot. The Hart home was situated on the northeast corner of 16th Street and Esquimalt, While it faced toward Esquimalt, it was set well back from that street and the entrance was actually from I6th Street. Doug estimates that the house was set back about 100 feet from Esquimalt. 3y the time his family movea into the home, the area between the house and Esquimalt was boxed in by a privet heage some six or seven feet high forming an open ended rectangle on the east, south and west sides. The enclosed space was lawn with about a dozen shrubs set into it. Behind tne house, that is, on the north side, there was a small orchard of seven apple trees, including two transparents and one Gravenstein. The northern limit of the orchard was set by a gully or creek bed. As a boy, it never occurred to Doug that the creek had or neeaed a name, but we can identify it as the west arm of Vinson Creek which empties into the sea at lUth Street. Doug remembers the creek as running almost east and west through the property. On the north side of the gully was a large fence which marked the north end of the property, and north of that, to Fulton Ave- nue, there vjas a small open lot. On tne south side of the fence, incidentally, grapes had been planted and they grew ao-undantly. At the west side of the north end of the property was a garage built oy Mr. Hart, as it was there xvhen the Watt family took over the property. Across the street from the house was the block containing the city hall. we have grown accustomed to the hall occupying the entire block, but in the 1920‘s, that was not so. In fact, a lane divided the area and the hall was on the south side of the lane on the western half towards 17th Street. Between the Hart house ana the City Hall and on the west side of loth Street was a most beautiful maple, a Canadian maple, Doug remembers noth the beauty ana the climbaoility - "great for climbing", Doug estimates the size of the house property as about an acre. If you accept 00 feet by 120 feet as the average size of.a lot, the Hart home sat on enough land for six homes. Actually there wr-is in efiect a vacant lot to the east ol the house, marxed off from the house lot by a slight downward slope, although the lana must have leveled off as Doug's two older brothers built a badminton court tnere. The entry to the house was from a gate o.i 16th Street flanked by two sugar maple trees, obviously planted by Mr. Hart as they had grown to be four to six inches through by the time the Watt family movec in. In the spring, Mr. Watt used to tap the trees, or show the Doys how to tap them in the interest of general education. Inside the gate was a cement siae-walK which led to a flight of five or six steps leading to the front porch. A second sidewalk curved round the house to the bacK door wfiich was the entrajice imposed on the children. But for the visitor, there was the front steps which tooK him or her on to a verandah, a substantial verandah, which extended the length of the Esquimalt frontage, ail down the loth Street side ana half way along the house at the north. It was deep as well as lengthy and set the tone for the house. The front door was midwa^ along the south side of the house. When you en-