Bell House

This California-style Craftsman bungalow sitting across from Clark Park was built in 1907 at the corner of 15th Avenue and Fleming for Thomas Bell, retired owner of Western Sheet Metal Co. on Main Street (then called Westminster Avenue). Thomas Bell lived in the house with his wife and son until 1919.

From 1919 to 1948, Frank Smith lived in the house with his family and ran a downtown printing business called BC Printing & Litho Company. Mr. Smith left the house in his will to Pearl Dixon, the Smith family housekeeper, who willed the house to the Catholic Church upon her death.

From 1961 to 1974 the house was a Catholic Children’s Aid Society home and, following this, until 1996 was a group home run through the Provincial Government. With its broad porch and long, low profile, this home is an excellent example of the California Craftsman bungalow style.

The house was as stop on a VHF Heritage House Tour in 2007, as well as in 2016.

Source

VHF 2007 Heritage House Tour Brochure, Vancouver Heritage Resource Inventory, Friends of the Vancouver City Archives Society, When An Old House Whispers blog, VHF 2016 Heritage House Tour Brochure

More information

http://househistorian.blogspot.ca/2011/02/1606-east-15th-avenue-house-that-thomas.html