Dalriada- Girvan House

The building is also valued for being designed by the important Vancouver architectural firm, Townley & Matheson. The firm’s work includes the Vancouver Stock Exchange (1928-29) and Vancouver City Hall (1935-36), as well as a number of houses. John Girvan worked with Townley & Matheson on the Columbia Theatre and this seems to have lead to the firm’s commission for John Girvan’s house in 1930.

Designed in the Storybook Cottage Revivalist style, the picturesque roofline, Tudor half-timbering, leaded casement windows, and garden setting reflect an idealized representation of traditional values and a simple, rural lifestyle popular with homeowners of British ancestry during the uncertain times between the World Wars. Details include the half-timbering of the east façade, rolled lintels and projecting sills, multi-paned leaded glass windows, a recessed front entryway framed by arched brackets with a wooden plank front door featuring frosted and stained glass.

The house also features iron grille work, wooden-sash casement windows with rectangular and diamond-shape leaded glass panes, original ground level wooden garage doors, and original features such as the double-height, vaulted entry vestibule with a false drop-beam ceiling painted by John Girvan, which still exists, as well as associate landscape features including a number of tall mature trees.

Source

City of Vancouver

More information

http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20120611/documents/phea2-345NorthBoundaryRoad-TheGirvanResidence-HeritageDesignationandHeritageRevitalizationAg.pdf