And now for something a little different from what you're used to from me...
Okeee I promised a neighbourhood tour a while back (it's been literally years since, and I've only ever attempted a couple) and while Mole Hill isn't a neighbourhood per se, it's been a part of downtown Vancouver's West End since near the beginning of the city. What is Mole Hill, you ask? Read on....
Mole Hill occupies the entire Block #23 of Vancouver's West End and has been threatened with demolition since the 1950s up until fairly recently. It is made up mainly of houses dating from 1888 to about WWI. As most of the West End has succumbed to redevelopment and high-density apartments and condos, this square city block has stayed virtually intact.
Here's a simple map showing where Mole Hill is located, taken from the city of Vancouver's website. Mole Hill is the red square:
West End background:
The West End started like out with mostly Queen Anne and Victorian mansions, and the more east in the West End you went, the more modest the houses became. Mole Hill is on the eastern edge of the West End. Post-war times saw mansions converted to rooming houses as the city's upper crust moved across False Creek to Shaughnessy (now home to many fine heritage mansions) and some apartment blocks were also built. In the 1960s, the West End was rezoned and this started the onslaught of high-rise construction which eventually made it one of the densest neighbourhoods in Canada, if not North America. All but one of the grand mansions were torn down and only a handful of houses remain.
Except Mole Hill which managed to escape mostly unscathed. This block, which is bordered by Thurlow, Comox, Bute and Pendrell streets, was supposed to have been bought up by the City of Vancouver along with the block to the north to develop a park and school for the area. The block to the north saw over 350 rooming houses and apartments demolished in the early 1970s when the park and school were developed. Mole Hill was to meet the same fate and although some houses were demolished, these plans were never carried through due to protest from residents and the public. In the 1990s, the name Mole Hill was applied to this block to honour one of the first residents to the area, and the Mole Hill Community Housing Society was formed. Today, there are over 168 units in the properties (mostly restored heritage homes) run by Mole Hill Housing, with some private residences and the Dr Peter Centre located in Mole Hill as well. Most of the heritage stock has been restored to its original condition and the construction of the Mole Hill Greenway mid-block was added as well.
Whew! Okay, on with the photos, enough background...
This is the Dr Peter Centre, a "prototype for combining a day centre to provide medical and personal care for people with HIV/AIDS with second-stage housing for those who can live independently if they have the appropriate support services".
It was built in 2003 and is connected with the former 6-unit rooming house to the west. A house and townhouse apartments that used to be located here (built between 1906-7) were demolished in 1977 by the City of Vancouver in preparation for the entire block to become park space and a new school. This is the SW corner of Thurlow and Comox:
This is the interesting walkway that connects the Peter Centre with the heritage house, which is used for offices for the centre:
This is the heritage house connected to the centre at 1110 Comox. It was built in 1906 and features a very unique turret. And naturally, this house is said to be haunted by a ghost:
A look at the 1100 block of Comox street, taken from near Thurlow:
1114 Comox, built in 1906:
1120 Comox, built in 1904:
1122, built in 1904:
1120 and 1120, again. Both were constructed by the same man, the house on the left slightly more elaborate but they are basically reversed twins of each other:
This is one of several properties not run by the Mole Hill Community Housing Society and not owned by the City of Vancouver and is a private residence. It was built in 1942 and appears to be the first structure built on the site. Up until my source book was published in 1995, the original owner still lived here and fought off demolition of the property by the city in 1991. I'm uncertain if she still lives here now though:
Built in 1904, this is 1136 Comox:
Also built in 1904 is 1140:
Numbers 1136 and 1140 were built by the same builder and are mostly the same. This style of house was quite common in the city at the time. There was a house that stood to the left of 1136 but was demolished in 1991 for a pedestrian right of way through to the alley and Pendrell street (the Mole Hill Greenway). It had been built in 1889:
Before this house at 1146 was restored, it was covered in stucco and had many alterations done to it which have since been reversed. This was built in 1904:
Another private residence and one of the few houses in unrestored condition, although it's mostly just stucco-covered. This is at 1150 and was built in 1903. I didn't want to trespass so this is the best photo I could manage of it:
1154 Comox, built in 1906 and this house had previous renos reversed in its restoration, although these parts of the house in this photo were add-ons when it was converted into apartments in the 1920s:
1160 Comox, built in 1888 makes it not only one of the oldest Mole Hill houses, but one of the oldest surviving houses in Vancouver. The front porch is an add-on from early last century:
Looking east down the block:
Another look at 1154 and 1160:
One of three daycares operating in Mole Hill houses, this particular one has jumped around a few locations within Mole Hill over the years. This house at 1164 was built 1894:
This house at 1170 is obscured by foliage so I apologize for the dreadful photo. This house was built in 1898:
This little guy is a newer addition to the block built in 1950. The previous house that stood here was built in 1898 and probably burnt down when the apartment block next door suffered a fire in 1927. Nothing was built on the site until this house came along, which is privately owned:
1180 Comox and the neighbouring apartment's ground level suites:
This is the Strathmore Lodge, once called the Royal Alexandria and was built in 1909, replacing an 1891 house. In 1927 it suffered a fire that saw 8 people die. The cornice has been renovated from its original state, probably after the fire:
Cornice details:
1104 Bute, built in 1893 and saw many alterations reversed in its restoration. It was made into a rooming house in 1928 and additions carried out in 1939:
1110 Bute, built in 1908. This house, 1116 and 1122 were all built by the same builder:
These are 1110 and 1116, both built in 1908:
1116 Bute, built 1908:
1122, Built in 1908:
Looking north down Bute:
1173 Pendrell, built in 1898:
1169 Pendrell, built in 1898:
1163 Pendrell, which resembles the previous house except for the wrap-around porch which was added about 15 years after this 1898 house was built:
1159 Pendrell, built 1899 and remained in near original condition before it was restored in the early 2000s:
1169, 1163 and 1159 Pendrell, painted in their believed original colours, as are most of the restored Mole Hill houses:
1157 Pendrell, built in 1899, had an apartment-style addition built in front of the house facade in the 1940s that has since been removed when the house was restored:
1147 Pendrell was built in 1899 and had some unsympathetic additions done to it that have also been removed:
This particular building had to be demolished and rebuilt, probably using many of the original materials. This happened in 2003:
1100 Block of Pendrell:
1139 Pendrell was built in 1889 and the second story balcony was opened once again during restoration:
1137 Pendrell, built in 1889 makes this one of the oldest houses on the block:
1139 and 1137:
This house at 1129 was built in 1899. To the left (out of the photo) used to stand a house from the late 1800s that was purchased by the city in 1963 and demolished 7 years later. The daycare that operates out of a heritage house on Comox street now, used to have a portable (trailer) as their building on the site. The site is currently part of the Mole Hill Greenway that runs through the block to the Comox side:
Much of the detailing was covered up prior to restoration:
This house was built in 1904 and a mirror image of it used to stand to the right of it. That house was purchased by the city in 1963 and demolished in the late-1970s after it's long-time resident passed away. The Watson House now stands on the site next to this one pictured (see next photo):
This is the Watson House and it is now located at 1125 Pendrell, but it didn't start out here. It was originally located at 909 Thurlow, a couple blocks away, and was even moved another time before coming to Mole Hill. It was built in 1897:
Mr Watson and some flowers:
Barely visible through all the foliage, this house sits in behind the Watson House. It was moved from 1380 Hornby, which was actually a relatively far distance (nearly 6 blocks away). It was built in the late 1880s. A house from about 1902 used to occupy this lead-up to the house, beside where the Watson is now and was demolished in about 1961:
The last house facing Pendrell is at 1103 and built in 1907. This house was covered in stucco and the porch enclosed prior to restoration:
1100 block of Pendrell with St Paul's hospital buildings looming in the background:
Heritage plaque:
And finally, moving on to Thurlow street, 1119 was built in 1903:
Also 1903, next one over:
This house, also 1903, used to look like the last two houses until around 1920 when it was converted into apartments and the front was altered:
1119, 1113 and 1107, all painted in what is believed to be their original colours:
This house at 1101 is privately owned, and the alterations to the front including the garage occurred later in its life when it became a bed and breakfast:
Moving on, this is part of the greenway that cuts through the block in the middle and leads to the laneway. This is a small man-made pond located along the greenway:
Spelling counts!
The rear of some of the houses that face Comox:
Interesting light standard thingy:
Looking west, with a garden in one of the house's backyards and the Strathmore Lodge apartments in the background:
This is the garage and the rear of the one of the few unrestored homes on the block:
Car co-op parking in behind. There's some other parking for vehicles of the Mole Hill Residents along various parts of the alley:
The Strathmore Lodge again:
Looking east down the alley with downtown Vancouver providing the backdrop:
Laundry facilities:
Dr Peter Centre with part of St Paul's in the background across the street:
The remaining pictures are of Nelson Park, which sits north of Mole Hill. As was mentioned earlier, over 350 houses and apartments were demolished in the 1970s for the creation of this park and the school. This was supposed to have been the same fate for Mole Hill:
Thanks for stickin' it out until the end and taking the time to be schooled.
thanks, it's like taking a trip back in time, sort of.
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