TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Kristen Schulz has a lot of mysteries to solve.
For starters, why was John Bull buried in an unmarked grave in West Vancouver when he had seven kids? And why did he build such a large family home in North Vancouver at the age of 76?
Since 1922, Kristen's home in the Grand Boulevard neighbourhood has had four different owners: John Bull, Martin E. Sowden and Jacob Schindell. Kristen's parents bought the house in 1995.
It's a sunny afternoon in April as Kristen stands in the dining room of her home tracing the history of all three former owners. Their stories are impressively showcased in a project she put together called The Heritage of My Home for the recent Sea to Sky Regional Heritage Fair. A white poster board, positioned centre stage on the dining room table, is covered with photos, written histories and maps. Kristen confidently recites the information, pointing to interesting facts and photos, as she occasionally pushes aside her nosy kitten.
Tidbits of information come together in an ordered timeline, but some mysteries still remain: Both Bull and Sowden disappeared from all records for a few years. Where did they go?
Kristen began to pull at the threads of history when her mother found a dusty, glass sign in the basement of her home. The sign read: John Bull and Co. Brokers. Her interest piqued, Kristen set off to discover the story behind the sign. For weeks (including during Spring Break), she pored over online directories and vital events listings at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives. Piece by piece she put together a history of her home.
"It was worth it," she said of the time spent on her project. "It was fun finding all the information." Kristen discovered the glass sign was likely a piece of a front door or window from a business, and Bull probably brought the sign with him when he moved to North Vancouver from the West Kootenays, where he was a mining broker.
Kristen shows off other artifacts found in the home, including a heavy clothing iron; a glass milk bottle from Associated Dairy; a coin from 1922; and original icebox vents at the side of the house. The artifacts help her remember all the people who lived in her home, she explained, and added the history and heritage make her feel like she is part of a bigger story.
"I like finding out about old things and learning about our past," she said.
Kristen's project recently earned her an award from the District of North Vancouver Heritage Advisory Committee for raising awareness of the North Shore's architectural heritage. If her family ever sells the house, she will leave her project behind for the new owner to find.
Just as Kristen's home connected her to a past she hadn't previously known, buildings across the North Shore represent a heritage some say needs to be protected.
"I call them the landmarks; the drawing pins in the ground to connect all those maps, plans, photographs, some old movies that we've got still," said Peter Miller, president of the North Shore Heritage Preservation Society. "The memory of the area is often intrinsic in buildings, not just houses, particularly a building which might be a modest-looking shop today, all the people in their 80s and 90s remember that that was a school room or a bank or a post office in its years, and we don't want that building to be demolished because of its association with the history of the community, not necessarily (that it's) a beautiful piece of architecture."
Miller explained the preservation society was started about six years ago after a heritage home called Hodgson House was lost due to what he calls a "lack of organization to advocate on behalf of it."
When an elderly widow, the daughter of the architect Hugh Astley Hodgson, who had grown up in the house, passed away leaving behind a treasure trove of contents, including antique clothes, toys and furniture, a group of interested individuals got together to draw up a proposal for the District of West Vancouver to save the house. As they were doing so, somebody bought the house and took it to Vancouver Island. Miller said it was a missed opportunity to save the house. It's important to save the structures, not just the stories, he added, as a community's history can't be fully appreciated through photos alone.
"A picture isn't the same thing as the materials," said Miller. "When you're walking along the road and there's a big, empty site on the corner with a modern building on it, it's not helpful to say, 'Well we do have a picture of the building that used to stand there a hundred years ago. It's in the library if you want to go and see it.'"
After losing the Hodgson house, members of the group that tried to save it came together and formed the preservation society. Since that time, they have worked to raise awareness about the importance of saving heritage structures.
"We don't want to be dismissed as just a bunch of people who don't want to see anything demolished and we're against any development. It's far from it. But when we do recognize something that has heritage value, then we want to stand up and, as I say nowadays, I advocate on behalf of that building," explained Miller.
He said all three North Shore municipalities face challenges protecting heritage homes due to rising property values that make the land more valuable than the houses.
Although Miller said there have been some inroads made in the pursuit of preservation, when asked what the municipalities are offering in terms of incentive, he answered: "Not very much. Not very much."
Stephen Mikicich, senior community planner for the District of West Vancouver, explained the district can't stop the owner of a privately held property from tearing down a structure unless the district purchases it.
"There is actually, perhaps, a public misconception that the local government has a lot of power to go out and save buildings," he said. The municipality has limited control over the form and character of single-family replacement housing, but through heritage conservation tools it does have some.
"We can ensure that, first of all, a building is retained, it's part of the existing landscape, but that what is built is sensitive to that building and to the heritage values of the site. Similarly, when we look at infill housing, it's a more intensive form of development, so we do have the right through the development permit process to regulate form and character," explained Mikicich.
Currently, West Vancouver does not have a fund to offer financial incentives to homeowners for maintenance or renovation of heritage homes, so council has directed staff to look at land-use incentives to promote preservation. Those incentives could include streamlining the approval process for renovation permits, allowing infill housing, or what Miller says the municipalities currently offer, which is "a sympathetic hearing for waivers of various things like setbacks and height restrictions."
Municipalities can also provide an official heritage designation under bylaw in some cases. Council would then need to review and approve any alterations to those designated homes. West Vancouver currently has three such sites: the Ferry Building, Gertrude Lawson House and the B.C. Binning residence.
West Vancouver's Community Heritage Register was established in 2007, as part of its heritage strategic plan. Homes listed on the register may be eligible for possible conservation incentive, but inclusion on the register does not constitute legal protection of the home.
The City of North Vancouver's Heritage Registry is currently under review. Listed homes are also not legally protected from demolition. It would take a covenant placed on the home by the owner to protect the structure from demolition. When an application from a listed home is received for work that will affect the exterior of the home, staff review the proposal and try to work with the owners.
The District of North Vancouver is currently in the process of establishing a Community Heritage Register. Its website states two existing heritage inventories provided a starting point for developing the list of nominations for the register. The website also notes owners of properties on a heritage register will be eligible to apply for a grant through the new District of North Vancouver Heritage Grant Program beginning in 2013.
Miller said both North Vancouver municipalities need to make progress in pushing through long-awaited updates to their heritage registers. The City of North Vancouver's updated Heritage Register has been sitting in draft form for a couple of years, which creates a lot of uncertainty and complication, he said.
Connie Rabold, communications manager for the City of North Vancouver, explained in an email that the City's Heritage Directory project has been delayed due to changes in staffing, but is anticipated to get to a public hearing this fall.
David Pike and Gillian Welsh are nearing completion of a threeyear renovation of their 1911 Craftsman-style home on East Ninth Street. Known as the Tappan Residence, it is listed as a primary heritage structure in the District of North Vancouver's proposed Heritage Register.
"Owning a heritage house can involve a lot of work, but it's also rewarding to restore something to its original state," said Pike in an email. "Basically, we like living in houses that have character, that are distinctive. The age and history are part of that character, but there are plenty of modern houses that also have character. It's more about distinction than just age."
All the electrical and mechanical systems have been replaced in the home, and a full-height basement has been created. However, the couple restored the original details of the house wherever possible or sourced reproductions to match.
One thing they did replace: the clawfoot tub.
"It's not very practical for a family bathroom, and they weren't built for people (who are) six-foot-two," said Pike. "Our view is that restoring and maintaining these houses is the best form of protection. There are plenty of buyers for restored heritage houses, and these are families, not developers."
However, restoration may not be a viable option for some homeowners.
Kevin Vallely is a residential designer in North Vancouver, and said the cost of renovating versus building new is an issue he deals with on a regular basis. "From my experience extensive renovations cost as much, or even more, than new builds," said Vallely. "Obviously if a building is an important heritage building one can't put a dollar figure to its value, and spending the additional funds would be warranted, but there's a tremendous amount of work involved in bringing an older home up to modern-day requirements."
Miller disagrees. He said often renovation is cheaper than demolition if one considers the cost of clearing the site, reframing the building, and paying fees associated with hooking up all the services again. He said more should be done by municipalities to offer incentives to homeowners to preserve heritage structures rather than tear them down.
But Vallely said not all styles of homes on the North Shore are worth saving.
"Here on the North Shore, particularly West Van, our most important heritage homes are, in fact, the West Coast Modernists," said Vallely. "It's not to say that there aren't great examples of other styles worth preserving, but the modernist pieces done by masters like Arthur Erickson and Ron Thom are the real treasures. A lot of people don't realize this. One sees older Craftsman-styled homes and assumes that they're heritage because of a certain look and age, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily well-designed or a good example of this style. Some of them are, but most of them aren't."
Mikicich noted West Vancouver is only celebrating its centennial this year so in many respects it's quite a young community, with fairly young buildings - the building he works in is about his age. Only recently have more people begun to appreciate mid-century modern buildings as having heritage value, suggested Mikicich. There are some early cottages sprinkled throughout West Vancouver and a number of homes from the 1920s-1930s, he said, "but really what puts West Vancouver on the map in terms of a heritage community is its stock of West Coast Modern buildings."
Miller agrees that history, intrinsic value and architectural significance are elements to consider when discussing heritage home preservation. "We have to make a value judgment all the time. We in the conservation field and advocates of heritage restoration and conservation, we have constant conversations about that."
He explained there are three good options for homeowners considering preserving a heritage structure on their property: Smaller homes straddling double lots can be moved to one of the lots to allow a second home to be built; heritage homes can be moved to different sites to free up the lot; or infill housing can be added.
Janice Harris, former mayor of the District of North Vancouver, faced a number of heritage infill issues while on council, and said it makes sense to consider allowing a modest infill home adjacent to a heritage home. Harris, who was also on the district's Community Heritage Commission, said it's important to preserve the character of neighbourhoods.
"I think you should care about change for the sake of change and abandoning older housing forms," she said, adding there is an environmental argument to consider when discussing tearing down homes that could be refurbished and live for another 50 years.
"I see a lot more now where people will buy a home and gut it and rebuild it and put all the 'mod-cons' in and relandscape," she said, adding with two smaller homes you might stand a chance of saving more of the garden.
"If we're going to have smaller gardens because we've got larger homes, we have to think about the kind of plantings that sustain and support our local ecology."
In the past, gardens were more integral to a household, but times have changed. These days, some people in larger homes get swallowed up by them and get divorced from their gardens, said Harris. "There's so little of the place left to garden it's just sort of an ornamental wilderness out there."
It's important for homeowners to minimize hard surfaces, particularly asphalt and concrete, by reducing the size of their driveways, and engaging in thoughtful landscaping, explained Harris.
Permeable landscape is important because if rain is only captured on asphalt and sent down into storm sewers it doesn't get a chance to percolate through the soils, so oily water is sent into creeks and streams, explained Harris.
"All the receiving waters become degraded if all the water is just captured on concrete or hard surface. It's much better if the rain is allowed in grass, into the soil, and eventually it ends up in the creeks and streams and it's much cleaner."
Mikicich agrees that thoughtful planning is key.
"The secret is really sensitive infill development and heritage conservation," he said. "I think that from a planner's perspective, a community's history is important.
"The built form tells us where we came from. It gives us clues to how the community developed. It's also sustainable, too. If you have a building that still has life in it or has the potential and it doesn't end up in a landfill, why not try to save it? And particularly if it has some historic merit or architectural significance. It's also part of the established physical character of the community and it's something that people told us they value."
Nest week: Looking to the Future.
