Priced at $40,000 when it was first constructed, a spacious house in First Shaughnessy was once described in a newspaper article as 鈥渆asily the most costly and handsome home鈥� built in 1921 with 鈥渁 very liberal use of fireplaces鈥� (10). But it also has a modern-day claim to fame. Between 2002 and 2005, Hollywood stars Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell owned it after moving to 麻豆传媒映画so their then-teenaged son Wyatt could play hockey.
Now, in a move that鈥檚 sure to please both local history lovers and the Hollywood obsessed, the historic home is one of nine properties on 麻豆传媒映画Heritage Foundation鈥檚.
The tour is one of the foundation鈥檚 main fundraisers, typically bringing in around $50,000, which, after tour costs are covered, is used for the charitable organization鈥檚 many endeavors.
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Judith Mosley, executive director of 麻豆传媒映画Heritage Foundation, expects both its historical significance to 麻豆传媒映画and the Hawn-Russell association will attract some tour-goers.
鈥淭here are many different reasons why places are important, whether it鈥檚 a historic house like this or a more modest building or other places in our city,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are different ways that people connect to that. The fact that Hollywood stars lived there 鈥� people connect to that. And, of course, [it鈥檚] another chapter in its history and interest. Whatever helps people to connect to different places in the city and enjoy them is part of that history and value that those places have.鈥�
Many original features have been retained in the home, according to Mosley.
鈥淐learly, it was a special house when it was built and the current owners appreciate that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think when they saw it, they really loved it. They retained the interior and just did a little bit of decorating. That鈥檚 about it.鈥�
The owners
For much of its history, the house was owned by successful businessmen.
Architect Bernard C. Palmer designed and built it for Captain Montague Tuck and his family in 1921. Tuck was was president of a tea and coffee company called Braid, Tuck and Company Limited. He was also a director of Gold Seal Brand, an importer of fine wine and liquor, during Prohibition times. The Tucks lived in the home until 1928.
The next owner was Arthur Barden Palmer (no relation to the architect), his wife Lillian and family. Originally from Prince Edward Island, Palmer was once shipwrecked in his youth on the way to France. He went to the Klondike for the Gold Rush and did well running stores with his brothers. Palmer later came to 麻豆传媒映画and set up a road construction contracting business, which built the first Cambie Street Bridge 鈥� not the one that exists now. The Palmers lived in the house from about 1929 to 1935, before moving to an apartment in one of the other buildings on the Heritage House Tour.
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Charles Pretty, president of Pretty鈥檚 Timber Co. Ltd., and his wife Rowena, lived in the home for many years, from the late 1940s to the 1970s. (Pretty鈥檚 father, Charles Fenn Pretty, moved from Ontario to New Westminster in 1890 and made money in the fishing industry before he began investing in timber lands as that industry took off.)
鈥淗aving a long-term resident like that can often be a really great thing for a house like this because it can mean it was well looked after and enjoyed. And, they clearly didn鈥檛 do lots of big changes,鈥� Mosley said.
After Hawn and Russell owned the property between 2002 and 2005, someone owned it for a short time before the current owner, who Mosley won鈥檛 reveal for privacy reasons, bought it in 2008.
Mosley also isn鈥檛 revealing the address of the home for privacy reasons.
鈥淲hen people get their tickets, the booklet has a write-up of each of the stops in the tour and that鈥檚 when they get the addresses,鈥� she said.
History lesson
Jim Wolf, an architectural historian, said a mix of house styles are represented in First Shaughnessy, a neighbourhood that was developed over 1909 through the boom and leading up to the First World War. One of the most distinctive aspects is that a large majority of the homes were done in what鈥檚 called 鈥淏ankers' Tudor,鈥� a variation of English Arts and Crafts.
During the Arts and Crafts movement, architects looked back to the Elizabethan and Tudor eras when 鈥渂eautiful, romantic houses鈥� were built with a construction method called half-timbering, Wolf said.
鈥淭hey would create framed timber buildings and, of course, you would have this framing exposed鈥� you鈥檇 have these exposed frames that were stuccoed in between. When the revival came, the English Arts and Crafts architects wanted to evoke this style,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭hey did it with decorative stucco and beam work, which we call Tudor-style, but it really is mock-Tudor because it isn鈥檛 an Elizabethan building. It鈥檚 one that鈥檚 harkening back to that era because it鈥檚 a very romantic style.鈥�
Bernard C. Palmer, the architect, worked on many of the homes in First Shaughnessy prior to the First World War at an architectural firm called Fox and Maclure where Palmer became very successful. Cecil Fox, however, died in the First World War.
鈥淲hen the boom came in the 1920s, Palmer was known to all of the families as the person to call if you wanted one of these [types of] houses, so he obviously got the contract for the house based on all the work he had done,鈥� Wolf said.
It was big news to build such a large house after the war because it took a while for the trades and goods to come back to pre-war levels. There was also a scarcity of cash. As a result, the home was featured in a newspaper article headlined: 鈥淭en Fireplaces for Shaughnessy Home.鈥�
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鈥淭his house was one of the first and few built after the war that was still quite grand 鈥�10 fireplaces is a lot of fireplaces,鈥� Wolf said.
One interesting feature was a built-in lift for both wood and coal "to minimize the labor of providing fuel for these fireplaces." Batchelder tile, meanwhile, was used on the fireplaces 鈥� it鈥檚 a tile from California made by a well-known family that produced Arts and Crafts tile.
鈥淚t shows that Palmer adapted. He probably couldn鈥檛 get English tile as easily in that period after the war, so he鈥檚 going to North American sources and getting something from California,鈥� Wolf said. 鈥淭hese houses really reflect their time. Here, he鈥檚 looking to California and an American source to give that house the character that he wants to create.鈥�
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The home also reveals beautiful design work throughout, including woodwork that creates 鈥渋nstant atmosphere鈥� and a sense of permanency, which suggests it had been there for decades, according to Wolf.
鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 want new wealth, so to speak, you wanted to show that your money was old and established and that you had style. This idea of coming into rooms that had this beautiful paneling and beamed ceilings 鈥� that all evoked both style and wealth,鈥� he said. 听鈥淎rchitects were really pandering to their clients鈥� taste for exhibiting their wealth and style. It鈥檚 not any different than today except the style was, of course, quite different.鈥�
As many older homes have been torn down or remodelled to fit modern tastes, it鈥檚 becoming increasingly unusual to see heritage homes that have been preserved.
鈥淲hen you get an owner who appreciates all of those qualities and does everything that they can to preserve them and care-take them for the next generation, that鈥檚 rare. It鈥檚 rare to find it and it鈥檚 rare for people, not only to take care of them, but to restore them,鈥� Wolf said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had houses that have gone through a period of restoration and care only to have the next caretaker or owner come along to say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want any of this鈥� and rip it all out and replace it. When you get the chance to see a house that鈥檚 fully intact, of its era and with all this quality behind it, it is something to be cherished, something to be valued and certainly something to be celebrated."
The self-guided Heritage House Tour runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., June 3. For prices and tickets, go to听or call 604-264-9642.
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