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Introduction to Shaughnessy
This area was developed in 1909 by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
It was designed to be an exclusive community of large homes
in an estate-like setting as it is still today. This neighbourhood
got its name from Sir Thomas Shaughnessy of the CPR. It is
known for its large, well-tended homes and for its curving,
tree-lined streets. The area is centered on Granville Street
and stretches from West Boulevard to Oak Street and 16th to
41st Avenues.
During the depression, many residents of these prestigious
houses moved out and the area was referred to as Poverty Hill
and Mortgage Heights. In 1939, an elegant "Glen Brae"
House was sold for $7, 500 when it had been appraised at $75,000
in 1920. It was used as a kindergarten and nursing home and
is now a hospice for children, called Canuck Place. Below
Van Dusen Botanical Gardens, is a subterranean concrete vault.
It seals chamber for a drinking water reserve that was drained
in the 1970s.
History & Heritage
In 1885, the provincial government gave the Canadian Pacific
Railroad 6 000 acres of land in the centre of Vancouver. CPR
chose to place its premier residential subdivision at Shaughnessy
Heights. Shaughnessy was named after the CPR president Sir
Thomas Shaughnessy and its main streets were names of the
CPR's board of Directors. In 1907, Richard Marpole, a general
superintendent and executive assistant of the CPR, developed
a prestigious residential area that would attract the Vancouver's
upper class from the West End. The CPR hired a landscape architect
and Danish engineer to lay out curving streets. Its lot prices
were set by the CPR to be $1 000 higher than the standard
$5 000 bungalow houses in the city. The goal of this was to
set apart Shaughnessy's prestigious neighbourhood from the
rest of Vancouver. The homes were of lush lawns, hedges and
trees that line up the boulevard.
In 1914, there were 243 houses and 80% of the homeowners
were of the social elite. The impact of Shaughnessy caused
CPR to expand the area to "Second Shaughnessy" and
"Third Shaughnessy." The Shaughnessy Settlement
Act of 1914 restricted development to single-family houses.
8 years later, the Shaughnessy Heights Building Restriction
Act was made, forbidding the subdivision of lots and limiting
construction to one single family dwelling per lot. The Depression
of the 1930's hit Shaughnessy hard. Many homeowners moved
out because their houses were repossessed. Ignoring the restrictions
of the province, many single-family houses were converted
into multiple dwellings.
The heritage of Shaughessy is one of the significant neighbourhoods
because it is the best example of a planned community. In
1907, the CPR spent more than 1 million dollars planning the
site before selling its high-priced lots. The community is
of estate-like character composed of winding Boulevards, large
lots and extensive landscaping. The architectural styles ranged
from English Arts and Crafts, and Tudor Revival to Craftsman
and Colonial Revival. Shaughnessy is one of Vancouver's valuable
heritage landscapes.
Significant houses include the Frederick Kelly House at 1398
Crescent St, the Fleck house at 1296 Crescent St, and the
Nichol house at1402 McRae Ave. Two houses significant houses
are the Hycroft house at 1489 McRae Ave and Glen Brae at 1690
Matthews St. The Glen Brae House, built in 1910, attained
its name from its owner, who instructed architects to design
the house in a Scottish baronial-style home. He named the
house Glen Brae, which meant "valley of the mountains."
It is the most memorable mansion in Shaughnessy because of
its unusual features of a pair of twin towers with dome roofs
on either side of the grand entrance porch. In 1992, its owner,
Elizabeth Wlosinski donated to the city and is now a hospice
for children called Canuck Place. The Hycroft House was built
in 1909 for a BC industrialist, a WWI Veteran and 1920's senator.
It was the largest and most expensive mansion in the city.
In 1942, he gave it to the federal government as part of the
war effort and made it a hospital a later. It then became
a hospital for war veterans. It was later abandoned. 1962,
the University Women's Club bought it and now, they open it
to the public every Christmas craft fair.
Interest Links
Shaughnessy
Online Walking Tour
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