Celebrating the homes that make Vancouver Special
Posted September 20, 2013 8:29 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It looks like the under-appreciated Vancouver Special is finally getting its due!
The Vancouver Heritage Foundation is hosting self-guided tours of five of the homes on Saturday.
Vancouver Specials typically have a shallow gabled roof, a brick or stone facing, and a narrow balcony on the second floor.
While some don’t like the famously boxy design, others find it very flexible.
“These houses, like many others in the city, really tell a bit of a story and there’s lots of ways that they can be retained and updated and reused for contemporary living,” says Judith Mosley, Executive Director of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation.
“We’d really encourage people to come and see for themselves just how great that can be.”
Mosley says interest in the homes has picked up in recent years.
“They’ve really come back into favour with people who are looking for a more flexible floor plan that they can update and so quite a number of homeowners have chosen to purchase a Vancouver Special and make it their own.”
Nearly 10,000 of the homes were built between the mid-60s and the mid-80s.
She points out the homes are a very much a product of their era.
“It’s quite a unique design… and was really developed at a time when there was quite a lot of immigration coming into Vancouver so these houses also represent an aspect of the social history of the city as well.”
The tours run between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. starting from Ross Street and 45th Avenue.
Tickets cost 30 dollars apiece.
You can purchase them online or at the ticket booth which will set up by 12:00 p.m.
