There are only a few days left to Christmas and less than 200 war vets homes of the original 1,100 left in Fraserview, which is why a string of old-school, incandescent bulbs on any of the 1950s bungalows becomes a more poignant sight with each passing year.
This home is the last of the government-built rentals on Hoylake Place – the horseshoe cul-de-sac across from Bobolink Park.
In 1987, city councillor Gordon Price led The Vancouver Sun’s Pete McMartin on a tour of Vancouver’s heritage houses. Their jaunt ended in Fraserview, where they both marvelled at the extreme contrast of housing types in Hoylake Place.
McMartin writes: I say, “Holy cow!” when I see it. Price says: “I want to preserve this in glass.” Every house on the street is what could be classified as a Special, arranged in exact archaeological order. The first is a 1930s bungalow, the second a 1940s Veterans Land Act house, the sixth a 1970s Vancouver Special and the last four are 1980s superhouses.
The inventory has changed a bit since 1987, but the contrast between the project house and its new $2-million neighbour is no less stunning.
