516 Hawks Ave

516 Hawks Avenue is part of a row of six houses (502-520 Hawks Avenue) that was built in 1898. The land was acquired by the Vancouver Improvement Company in 1898, which then sold the property to Walter Scott. The houses were then built and connected to city water.

516 Hawks Avenue first appears in city directories in 1901, with the resident listed as Harry Stuart, a butcher. The house saw several short term occupants including contractors, a logger, labourers, and a driver.

The first long term resident was Duncan A. McDonald, a rancher and labourer who lived at the house from 1905 until 1914. Michael Tiski lived at the house from 1929 until 1930, during which time he was an elevator operator at the Patricia Hotel. From 1933 until 1939, the house was vacant, with Michael Tiski returning to live in the house from 1940 until 1947. During this time, he was a janitor, and later a porter.

For many decades, this row of compact, simple Victorian houses served as rental accommodation for successive waves of immigrants. In 1986 the row of houses was put on the market, and purchased with the intention of restoring them.

With the help of a loan from the Gulf and Fraser Fishermen’s Credit Union, the remaining four central houses were restored, and the missing houses at each end were replaced (one having burned down, and the other having collapsed). The work was completed in 1987, and the six houses were registered as separate strata-titled properties; subsequently the four restored houses were designated and the project received a Vancouver Heritage Award.

In 2006, VHF awarded True Colour Grants to #504-516 Hawks Avenue, aiding in repainting them to their original colour scheme.

Source

VHF Files, Vancouver Building Permits, British Columbia City Directories 1860-1955