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Page 6 WEST VANCOUVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY April1996 FEATURE PRESENTATION REPORT The History of the Canadian Home By: Anne Vernon The Historical Society's February meeting date was changed so that a speaker from Ottawa, Marc Denhez, could address us on his favourite subject, heritage buildings and housing in Canada. It was a change well worth making as Mr Denhez, a well informed and witty speaker, gave us an evening to remember. Marc Denhez is an Ottawa lawyer and an author of some repute, having over 300 works published in seven languages in seven different countries; his latest book being "The Canadian Home: From Cave to Electronic Cocoon". His lecture began with a slide showing an early cave dwelling in North America, went on to mention other early buildings and temples, including Atlantis and the tepee - (Canada’s first mobile home!) and covered the Inuit igloos and whale bone homes! There apparently was a First Nations house near Langley which was over 30,(X)0 square feet in size - an early “monster” house, presumably. Mr Denhez quoted several dates of interest (all in Quebec). 1657 saw the founding of the first Builders’ Association: 1690 Canada’s licensing of the first woman contractor, 1721 the passing of the first zoning bylaw and 1727 the first Building Code. European styles came to Canada via immigrants from that continent so that houses became larger and more ornate and we saw different styles in housing and public buildings - Greek and Roman influence prevailing - followed in the early 19th century by a house style imported firom India - the bungalow! The biggest influence on bouse design was indoor plumbing, then gas and electricity, all of which changed personal habits as in-house hot water ensured that baths, then showers, became commonplace. Electricity also meant having our own refrigerators which changed the way we bought, stored and cooked food. As people spread westward cities sprang up everywhere -Saskatoon was founded by temperance “fathers”, Winnipeg described as “the most wicked city in Canada” and Calgary “the hoss-smellingest town ever”. People lined up to buy land. In the 1920’s the modernists took charge of Canadian buildings, to be followed by the “heroic modernists” who held sway in public taste for over 40 years. World War n meant much “temporary” bousing - e.g. North Vancouver, where large tracts of houses were erected to house incoming families of the local shipyard woiicers. As you know, many of these houses are still being lived in over 50 years later - not too bad a record! After WWn there was a suburban explosion everywhere and the National Building Code and Canadian Housing & Mortgage Corporation came into being. Unfortunately this was also the time when a state of mind was created which still haunts us today - this was the belief that Canada, now an industrial country whose building stock was of “poor quality”, should demolish everything in existence and replace it with “better'’ modem constmction! A tax system was put in place which has made the preservation of heritage buildings costly and difficult The high cost of preservation means that there are few professionals trained in this special field. However, Marc Denhez feels most passionately that we should become involved in fighting to have our federal government make changes in the law. Apart from the fact that our historical heritage should be preserved, we simply cannot go on trashing our resources in the way we have been doing - one third of all Canadian landfill is made up of constmction materials from demolished houses. We in West Vancouver are very conscious of what is happening to our old and valued housing stock. In conclusion, Mr Denhez pleaded with us to use our efforts and influence to save our heritage, saying that “Our heritage is the foundation of the liveable city of tomorrow”. Going Back in Time By: Anne Vernon Although dealing mainly with housing, Marc Denhez’s lecture reminds us how important it is that we do our best to preserve our early heritage so, with this in mind, let us go back in time to the early settlement of our community. In 1860 “Navvy Jack” became the first white settler here, marrying Chief Capilano’s daughter and building his house (now standing at 1768 Argyle Avenue) in 1873. Eventually “Navvy Jack” went off to the Gold Rush and abandoned the house. John Lawson bought it in 1907 and his family were very happy to be here and live in this “beautifiil place”. Several family members and friends came to join them here and so began the settlement of what is now known as West Vancouver. Today “Navvy Jack’”s house is protected for us all, the Municipality having purchased it for our future enjoyment, but unfortunately this is the exception rather than the mle and we are all aware of old houses disappearing regularly - sometimes without any apparent warning. It is a sad fact that “progress” often means destruction of the past; however, if we cannot prevent the march of time, we can preserve memories of the early families who settled in and buUt and named our bouses and streets. Our children and grandchildren will be grateful to us for this service - if not now, certainly in years to come! Some of the houses which have been mentioned in the Heritage Inventory are - on Gordon Avenue the Vmson House at 1425 (built in 1913); the Grant & Stewart House at 1297 (1919); the Spencer House at 2089 Westdean Crescent (1913); the Young House at 2385 Haywood (1914); the Grodfircy House (1914) at 1366; the Downing House (1916) at 1991 Inglewood and the Harrison House (1923) at 2587 Kings. There are many, many more of course - bouses, schools and buildings of all types and styles, built by many different hands and our interest in hearing of your memories and family history is strong. History is not only the stories of the lives of the “rich and famous” but of everyday living and working people. We look forward to sharing your memories with our readers!