This 1 1/2 orange cottage-like home is one of the few left standing examples of the Pioneer style. This home "has the side gables and modest size of a Pioneer-style house but has a gabled wall dormer like a Victorian cottage, examples of which no longer exist in Vancouver." (Michael Kluckner)
Half a storey above ground for the lack of central heating of the time, this pioneer home has had a stucco finish added on. We see a similarity to the last example with the front gabled entrance as a part of the side-gabled cottage-like look of the style of the time. There are two large windows to both sides of the door.
From Heritage Vancouver Building Permits Database, VPL British Columbia City Directories 1860-1955: "The house at 3016 St. Catherines St. was first listed in 1910 and had multiple owners over the years. Its initial occupant was John Anderson, a chief clerk. In 1915 the house was owned by William G Warn who worked at the British Columbia Electric (BCE). The BCE was a historic railway which ran from 1890 to 1958 and operated in southwestern British Columbia and was granted a patent for the invention of a signalling device for motor vehicles. The one storey Pioneer-style house features drop siding cladding, a side-gabled roof, and a dormer window"
This 1 1/2 orange cottage-like home is one of the few left standing examples of the Pioneer style. This home "has the side gables and modest size of a Pioneer-style house but has a gabled wall dormer like a Victorian cottage, examples of which no longer exist in Vancouver." (Michael Kluckner)
Half a storey above ground for the lack of central heating of the time, this pioneer home has had a stucco finish added on. We see a similarity to the last example with the front gabled entrance as a part of the side-gabled cottage-like look of the style of the time. There are two large windows to both sides of the door.
From Heritage Vancouver Building Permits Database, VPL British Columbia City Directories 1860-1955: "The house at 3016 St. Catherines St. was first listed in 1910 and had multiple owners over the years. Its initial occupant was John Anderson, a chief clerk. In 1915 the house was owned by William G Warn who worked at the British Columbia Electric (BCE). The BCE was a historic railway which ran from 1890 to 1958 and operated in southwestern British Columbia and was granted a patent for the invention of a signalling device for motor vehicles. The one storey Pioneer-style house features drop siding cladding, a side-gabled roof, and a dormer window"
Form
The first houses were simple, side-gabled cottages or cabins, often only one room deep with the door set in the middle (called I-houses in the USA), usually with a full-width hipped-roof front porch. Most were placed near grade on primitive foundations with only a couple of steps up to the front porch. Some are 1-1/2 storey. There was no central heating in them and little need to dig a basement deeper than a small root cellar. They are rare in contemporary Vancouver. An evolution of the Settler Style was the Victory House, built quickly by the federal government during the Second World War in North Vancouver and at Burkeville on Sea Island.
Details
- Side-gabled roof
- Usually one storey
- Simple layout – often two rooms wide and one room deep
- Centered door
- Hipped-roof front porch
- Built on grade with primitive foundations
- Drop Siding
Background
Settler houses are simple buildings built in the early years of settlement, based on a form of folk housing found throughout North America. In Vancouver, the term ‘settler house’ refers specifically to a simple 1 to 1-1/2 storey home built near grade, and mainly date post-1886, which was the year of the Great Fire. Their very basic structure made them easy to construct and easy to expand, with few frills. This modest form of housing lasted into the early 20th century. There are only a handful of them left in Vancouver.
Materials
Wood is the dominant material for settler homes. They tend to have narrow lap siding or drop siding. Their roofs are usually asphalt shingles, although may originally have been cedar. These houses rarely have ornamentation beyond simple porch brackets.